COSTA MESA, Calif. — It was a magical evening as hundreds of guests gathered at the Armenian EyeCare Project’s (AECP) sold-out Gala on Saturday, November 15, in Costa Mesa. This year, AECP’s annual fundraiser was held at the St. Mary Armenian Church’s newly constructed Stambolian Hall, which was transformed with twinkling lights, lush florals and ambiance to create an enchanting experience for all who came out to support.
Most importantly, friends and supporters who attended the event were able to celebrate AECP’s incredible accomplishments over the past year and recognize the immense impact that the organization’s sight-saving work has in Armenia. It was a true celebration of the magic of sight.
At this year’s event, AECP had a goal to raise enough funds to purchase two pieces of critical surgical equipment for two hospitals in Armenia: 1) the Marie-Nubar Ophthalmology Clinic, Armenia’s first pediatric ophthalmology clinic located at Yerevan State Medical University and 2) the AECP Mobile Eye Hospital, a mobile clinic with a state-of-the-art surgical suite that travels throughout Armenia to provide eye care to those living in remote regions of Armenia who are in need of services. Motivated by kindness, compassion and generosity, guests passionately raised their bid paddles to contribute. The evening’s fundraising goal was reached and surpassed, which means that two eye care facilities in Armenia will be outfitted with new, cutting-edge surgical equipment, which will translate to thousands of lives impacted and sights saved.
While raising money to continue its impactful work in Armenia, AECP also honored three groups that have been extremely supportive of the organization’s sight-saving efforts in Armenia: Zeiss, the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), and the Vanitzian Family.
Zeiss and the ASCRS Foundation were jointly highlighted as AECP’s Corporate Co-Honorees of the Year. In early 2025, Zeiss donated an invaluable piece of medical equipment to AECP: a brand-new Zeiss OCT-5000 machine to be utilized in AECP’s Regional Eye Center in Spitak within the Lori province of Armenia. The donation of this piece of equipment has been critical in strengthening regional eye care development in Armenia. The OCT 5000 was installed in the Spitak Regional Eye Center to replace the existing equipment that was in use since the establishment of the Center in 2016; the previous OCT was in need of being replaced with a newer version in order to continue providing quality eye care to residents in the region.
The American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) and its philanthropic arm, the ASCRS Foundation, was also honored due to its key role in helping AECP secure the recent and invaluable medical equipment donated by Zeiss. With AECP expressing its need for new medical equipment to continue to service its sight-saving initiatives in Armenia to the highest degree, the ASCRS Foundation graciously and enthusiastically acted as a conduit between AECP and Zeiss. The Foundation helped to generate a strong connection and relationship between AECP and Zeiss at a critical time and made an immeasurable impact in Zeiss’ in-kind donation.
