People who care navigate their exotic vehicles through the local area to raise $30,000
By Nick Lees, Edmonton Journal | July 14, 2010 6:17 AM
View a copy of Nick Lees’ Edmonton Journal article at FFB.ca

Jack’s Grill owner Mark Goodwin offered to prepare a meal for 60 people.
Wade Brintnell of The Wine Cellar provided voluptuous wines.

And some 26 drivers and navigators roared away in exotic sports cars to fight blindness.
“Our first child Erick, who is now six, was born with a rare, inherited retinal disorder called leber
congenital amaurosis (LCA),” says Nadine Seed. “It meant he was born blind with no hope of a cure.
“This rocked our world and we began to find out as much as we could about Erick’s ailment.” Nadine
and her husband, Mike Seed, discovered groundbreaking research was being carried out in Canada
and the United States that provided hope of a cure.

The couple decided to become involved in helping fund researchers and that led to them talking to
members of the Foundation Fighting Blindness. “The foundation’s mandate is to find the causes,
treatments and ultimately the cures for retinitis pimentos, macular degeneration and related retinal
diseases by supporting research and public awareness,” says Seed.
On Sunday, the sports cars roared away on the couple’s inaugural fundraiser, a scavenger hunt called
Drive For Sight.

Ivor Lammerink from the Porsche Club mapped out the route that wound its way around the country
southeast of Edmonton, says Seed. “Questions were asked such as the distance between New Sarepta, the village made more famous by former Journal cartoonist Yardley Jones, to the Northern
Bear Golf Course.”
The event raised more than $30,000, says Seed. Next year’s event is being planned.

nlees@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

We raised $30,000 to help the Foundation Fighting Blindness support the leading edge retinal research currently underway by Dr. Robert Koenekoop at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.  Dr. Koenekoop is the Principal Investigator and Director of the McGill Ocular Genetics Laboratory and Chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology.

Dr. Koenekoop is one of the leading researchers in the world in the area of inherited retinal degenerative disease that causes blindness from birth. We are very fortunate to have such a valuable talent here in Canada.

The purpose of this [Foundation Fight Blindness] grant is to discovery new genes and treatments for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) & retinitis pigmentosa (RP) by using a successful gene-hunting program.  This program was developed with FFB support and has allowed Dr. Koenekoop to identify six new LCA and RP genes in the past three years. Gene identification leads to new understanding of how photoreceptors live and die, and to gene-specific therapies, which have recently led to the successful rescue of photoreceptors and vision in LCA patients.

A cure for childhood blindness is just around the corner. Thanks to you, this will become a reality sooner.

Our Generous Contributors

The Drive For Sight 2010 inaugural event was an afternoon of driving adventure, capped off with a delicious dinner graciously sponsored by Mark Goodwin of Jack’s Grill and fine wine provided by Wade Brintnell of The Wine Cellar.  Thanks to both of you for making Drive For Sight such a delicious experience!

Chad Smith of Hybrid Forge, who’s dedicated team designed and maintains the Drive For Sight web site, has updated www.DriveForSight.com with pictures from the July 11th charity event. Thank you Chad for donating your skills to produce such an outstanding web presence for Drive For Sight!

Special thanks to Kevyn Frederick, Ronnie Chen, Nick Stewart and Pro Venkatraman of the Crowne Plaza - Chateau Lacombe and Hargate Properties for the generous financial contribution and prizes you donated as well as participating in Drive For Sight.

Thanks you to our gift contributors who helped make Drive For Sight such a success:

Fred Singer - Henry Singer Menswear
Colin Priestner - Norden Autohaus
Des Ross - Auto Details
Mike Traxel – Weber Motors
Nick Lees, of the Edmonton Journal, wrote a nice article on Drive For Sight – 2010 in today’s paper (July 14, 2010). Thank you Nick for helping to raise awareness of the incredible advancements underway in the area of Retinal Research here in Canada.

Nadine Seed was chosen as a winner of Today’s Parent magazine “For Kids’ Sake- Reader with a Cause” writing contest. Her entry described her shock after finding out her child had a disability at birth, and her desperate search to find a cure.

As a result, $2000 was awarded to Nadine’s chosen charity, one that supports Nadine’s special cause- the search for a cure for blindness.  Her charity of choice is The Foundation Fighting Blindness Canada (FFB).

The FFB is a national charitable organization formed to find the causes, treatments and ultimately the cures for retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration and related retinal diseases by supporting research and building public awareness.  It is their goal to restore the gift of vision in children who were robbed of it.

Nadine appreciated the opportunity to have her cause and chosen charity be featured in such a widely read and influential national magazine, as well as the generous donation of $2000 that went to the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Today’s Parent and KRG Children’s Foundation Donate $2000 to the FFB

The new Drive For Sight website launches! We would like to thank Hybrid Forge for creating our website and also Redline Photography for providing the beautiful car photography.