Lions Gift of Sight Donor Recognition Program
April 14, 2024
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Neurosciences
University of Minnesota
© Copyright 2024 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
Lions Gift of Sight
1000 Westgate Drive - Ste 260
Saint Paul, MN 55114
For more information, visit LionsGiftofSight.UMN.edu or call 612-625-5159.
Table of Contents
Lions Gift of Sight Eye and Cornea Donors
Welcome
Our recognition program honors those who are the foundation of donation – donors and family members. They have generously and selflessly supported the gift of sight.
All guests are invited to a reception immediately following the program. Light refreshments, coffee, and punch will be served.
Program
Opening Remarks
Jodi Altenhofen
Community Liaison
Lions Gift of Sight
Lions Gift of Sight Welcome
Sean Poppoff
Executive Director
Lions Gift of Sight
A Surgeon Honors Donors
Joshua Hou, MD
Medical Director, Lions Gift of Sight
Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences
Solo
“Blackbird” (John Lennon and Paul MCCartney)
John Kerns, Guitar and vocals
Pamela’s Story
Laura Kelly Lovdahl
Daughter of Eye Donor
Solo
“Leave an Open Door” (Roger Clyne)
Jeremy Kerns, Guitar and Vocals
Jessica’s Story
Jessica Moore
Corneal Recipient
Donor Photograph Presentation
Closing Remarks
Jodi Altenhofen
Lions Gift of Sight Donors
Ralph Abrahamson
Aaron Louis Alexander
Maeme Altendorfer
William J. “Jack” Alton
Art Anderson
Craig D. Anderson
Tom Arcand
Tony Arguello
Verla Mary Baker
Vicki K. Beadling
Evan-Damian Bender
Bruce H. Bentson
Henry John Berg
Craig Lamont Bethea
Tom Bliese
Jacqueline Jean Blum
Kriss Kevin Boatman
Timothy Lee Bodin
Charlie Boike
William “Bill” Boitz
Beverly Booth
Steve Boyd
Ruben Bracho
Steve Brown
Tony Brown
Kent A. Brun
Gerald Ardell Brynildson
Scott Buchanan
John T. Buckley, Jr.
Douglas Bulthaus
Danny James Bushnell
Scott Richard Carlson
Derek Christen
Jake Alvin Christen
Ken Club
Sally Colburn
Victor S. Cox, Jr.
Linda Rae Deering
Charles R. Denison
Ray Dennis
Rick DeWinter
Frances B. Didier
Kathleen Dion
Kyle Dixon
Cecile Evelyn Donnay
Raymond Dufloth, Jr.
Emily Duncan
Steven F. Elton
John Emil
Leo Engren, Jr.
Heidi Elizabeth Erickson
Frank L. Fabish
Melissa A. Fatchett
James Fearing
Daniel Fish
Hunter W. Flaxbeard
Richard Thomas Franco
Deb Franti
Ira Phil Freshman
Chloe Kay Gamst
Duane E. Gibson
Jeff Goihl
Tom Gonsior
Betsy Graca
Steven Grant
Anthony C. Gregory
Rickey Griffith
Dwaine Haagenstad
Irene Carolyn Hackett
Jim Haire
Dennis Hanna
John Harlander
Gail Rannels Harlin
Kevin John Hart
Evan Jerome Hascall
Frank M. Hedgcock
Tim Hennen
Daniel Henry
Susan Herman
Mirina Lily “Ruby” Hetrick
Terry Hitman
Anthony “Tony” Hoffman
Richard Hoffman
Mikel D. Holland
Jerome J. Holmay
Joann G. Kramer Hutchison
Luke A. Jacobs
Bradley Allan Johannes
Mary Elizabeth Jahnke
Brian Johnson
Jodi Rae Johnson
Marcia Ann Johnson
Mark F. Johnson
Robert Charles “Bob” Julien
Patty Junge
Patrick Kalenberg
Hannah Kallsen
Mark H. Karnowski
Pamela Ann Kelly
Colton Kenyon
Linda R. Ketterling
Timothy R. Kisch
John Knapstein
Rena J. Knutson
Aaron Koelman
Thomas E. Kornfeld
Vic Kornis
Jackie Kovacsics
Joe Krogman
David Charles Kubiak
Tiffany L. Kulset
Robb Lee LaBonte
Lloyd LaFountaine
David Raymond Lambach
Marsha Keuten LaMontagne
Dennis D. Lanz
Lawrence Johannes Larsen, Jr.
Lynn Larson
Don Lee
Jace Michael James Lee
Randy Michael Lee
Richard D. LeVasseur
Robert Douglas Lezer
Sylvia E. Liggett
Dean Linnell
Timothy A. Lloyd
Jason Longfellow
Richard Lorentzen
Enrique Malaret
Patricia Martinson
Madden McKean
Meghan Marie Mercado
Colin Messerli
Katherine “Kathy” Meyerhofer
Elizabeth Meylor
Christopher “Chris” Micheau
Chad Minenko
Anda Moettus
Jordan Marcus Montgomery
Peter D. Morgan
Todd Morgan
Jason Alfred Morin
Jack Moskowitz
Bernard D. Murphy
Alexandria Nauer
Donald J. Neal
Ruth J. Nearing
John S. Nelson
Jaydon Neuffer
John P. Newman
Robert Thomas Nolan
John M. Norseng
Richard Nuese
Patrick R. Olson
Logan Overvold
Ridj R. Parantala
Layla Zaree Parker
Mary Evelyn Parker
Don Parsons
Ronald A. Patten, Jr.
Amy Paulson
Jaydan Pautzke
Jasmine Lynn Petersen
Logan Pfeffer
Kristin Anne Phillips
William Ivan Pierce
Jean Marie Pittman
Clifford E. Polsfuss
Christopher Allen Posz
Katherine Preece
Michael D. Quam
Patricia Raschio
Mary Jane Reid
James Roberts
Jeffrey Allan Rosati
Charles Ryan
Reed Madison Ryan
Sean Patrick Ryan
Sharon Sandberg
Kimberly Ann Sautter
Jack Sayers
Kimberly Scheider
Pearl Schermeister
Calvin Overson Schiller
Darrin C. Schiltz
Rourk Scott
Susan J. Scott
Shawn A. Sellner
Errolan Senske
Patrick Shanahan
Jeffrey M. Simon
Paul Anthony Skarstad
Michael Skoglund
Brian Michael Smith
James “Yogi” Smith
Daniel “Sliver” Sonsalla
Wes Soper
Jazlyn Elaine Spidahl
Paul D. Stavne
Terry Stormoen
Roger Stotts
John Egan Stratton
Dianne Strom
David J. Summers
Michael James Suyak
Gordon Donald “Doni” Swanberg
Genevieve “Gen” Thometz
Douglas Tindall
Milos Tomaides
Kimberly Joy Verret
James F. Weber
Kathleen Weck
Donald Lee Wells
Janet E. Welsh
Mark Westbrock
David C. Whitney
Kim A. Wicklander
David Wiederich
Gina Will
William Wodarski
Brian Thomas Wolf
LeRae Ann “Babe” Wright
Allen E. Zitzow
Helen Keller: Champion of the Blind
Born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in 1880, Helen Keller contracted a fever at 19 months of age that left her both blind and deaf. She lived in darkness and silence until a miraculous teacher, Anne Sullivan, broke through 7- year- old Helen’s isolation and taught her sign language, Braille, and speech.
All her life Helen was a tireless advocate for people with disabilities. In 1925, she attended the Lions Clubs International Convention and gave a short speech asking the 8- year- old service organization to help the blind. This speech so moved Lions club members that they have worked to assist the visually-impaired and to eradicate preventable blindness ever since.
Helen Keller's Speech
Dear Lions and Ladies:
I suppose you have heard the legend that represents opportunity as a capricious lady, who knocks at every door but once, and if the door isn’t opened quickly, she passes on, never to return. And that is as it should be. Lovely, desirable ladies won’t wait. You have to go out and grab ‘em.
I am your opportunity. I am knocking at your door. I want to be adopted. The legend doesn’t say what you are to do when several beautiful opportunities present themselves at the same door. I guess you have to choose the one you love best. I hope you will adopt me. I am the youngest here, and what I offer you is full of splendid opportunities for service.…
Try to imagine how you would feel if you were suddenly stricken blind today. Picture yourself stumbling and groping at noonday as in the night; your work, your independence, gone. In that dark world wouldn’t you be glad if a friend took you by the hand and said, “Come with me and I will teach you how to do some of the things you used to do when you could see”? That is just the kind of friend the American Foundation [for the Blind] is going to be to all the blind in this country if seeing people will give it the support it must have.
You have heard how through a little word dropped from the fingers of another, a ray of light from another soul touched the darkness of my mind and I found myself, found the world, found God. It is because my teacher learned about me and broke through the dark, silent imprisonment which held me that I am able to work for myself and for others. It is the caring we want more than money. The gift without the sympathy and interest of the giver is empty. If you care, if we can make the people of this great country care, the blind will indeed triumph over blindness.
The opportunity I bring to you, Lions, is this: To foster and sponsor the work of the American Foundation for the Blind. Will you not help me hasten the day when there shall be no preventable blindness; no little deaf, blind child untaught; no blind man or woman unaided? I appeal to you Lions, you who have your sight, your hearing, you who are strong and brave and kind. Will you not constitute yourselves Knights of the Blind in this crusade against darkness?
I thank you.
Acknowledgments
Lions Gift of Sight thanks the following:
Minnesota Lions club members, Minnesota Lions Vision Foundation, and individual donors for the financial support that made this program possible.
John Kerns, guitarist and singer, for the music shared during the program. John Kerns Linktree site.
The Barnett Family and Yuri Liberzon, Madison and Kirby Karpan and Friends, and Maud Hixon for providing the background music for the donor photo presentation.
Our partners in donation, LifeSource, American Donor Services, American Tissue Services Foundation, and the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program, for serving the donation needs of our community.
Learn More About Lions Gift of Sight
Are you interested in being a donation advocation? Would you like to volunteer with our eye bank? We would love to work with you!
For more information, please contact our Community Services Liaison:
Jodi Altenhofen
612-624-0446
[email protected]
“ The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
Words of Gratitude from Corneal Recipients
Please let the family of the individual that donated their corneas know that I will wake up every morning thinking about them, and that my family will do the same. We have been blessed. A thank you is not enough, and there are no words to express what a person feels with the gift of sight. It truly is life changing.
It’s a humbling experience to know that so many people—the surgical team, the eye bank staff, Lions Club members—have done so much for me to be able to see everyday. Most remarkable of all, of course, is the donor.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also think of you in the loss of a loved one. May God bless you all! We have so much to be thankful for!
Words cannot convey the appreciation I have for your donation, but please know that I will use the gift given to me each and every day for the rest of my life. Thank you.
I’ve found myself considering the saying, “The eyes are the windows to the soul,” and I keep imagining the kind soul who restored my eyesight—and, no less so, my spirit. Corneal graft recipients know that a graft is a gift beyond vision. It is a gift that restores the soul.
I’ll never forget it. My 2-year-old son walked up and for the first time ever in his life I saw him clearly.