THE Fred Hollows Foundation is thanking the Swan and Kalamunda communities for stepping up in 2025 to help restore sight, as international aid budgets shrink and the world’s most vulnerable face growing risks.

In the past year, more than 810 people from Swan, including 61 new donors, have supported the foundation, donating more than $277,000 while more than 730 people from Kalamunda, including 62 new donors, donated more than $280,000 helping the treatment of hundreds of thousands of people living with avoidable blindness.

In recent months, many foreign governments have cut their aid budgets, placing many of the world’s most vulnerable people at risk.

Despite this, people from Western Australia have shown incredible generosity, donating $3.5 million in the past 12 months.

Founding director Gabi Hollows said she was buoyed by the generosity shown by the Swan and Kalamunda communities and grateful they had chosen to support the foundation’s work.

“Fred used to say that the major problem with the world is the disparity between nations - but that it could be changed,” Mrs Hollows said.

“Nine out of 10 cases of blindness and vision impairment are preventable or treatable. Together, we can do something about it and Australians are proving that even in challenging times, community spirit can change lives.”

“Thank you, Swan and Kalamunda for allowing us to keep Fred’s vision of ending avoidable blindness alive.”

In 2025, the foundation performed 8.1 million eye screenings, 560 eye surgeries and treatments and treated 16.5 million people for trachoma - the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness.

One of the patients who received life-changing surgery last year was Lien, a mother-of-two, who was one of the thousands of people waiting for treatment in Laos.

For three years, Lien lived with the frustration and heartbreak of blindness. The 38-year-old from Oudomxay province, in northwest Laos, was unable to work or even recognise the faces of those she loves.

Thanks to the generosity of many caring supporters, Lien was able to attend an outreach eye camp run by The Fred Hollows Foundation, where she underwent cataract surgery on both eyes.

When the bandages were removed, she could see her children’s faces for the first time in years.

For more information about The Fred Hollows Foundation or to help restore sight, visit www.hollows.org or call 1800 352 352.