FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information:
Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate
Dori Jennings
(614) 270-0746
[email protected]
Prevent Blindness Honors Kurt Reiber, Freestore Foodbank with Southwest Ohio 2022 People of Vision Award
March 14, 2022 (Cincinnati, OH) The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness was proud to honor Kurt Reiber and the Freestore Foodbank recently with the 2022 People of Vision Award 
at a dinner event at The Hilton Netherland Plaza.
Since 1985, The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness (PBO) has recognized and awarded select organizations and their leaders for visionary leadership and community service. The People of Vision Award event has become one of Southwest Ohio’s premier charitable events in support of PBO and its mission to prevent blindness and preserve sight.
As last year’s honoree, Mike LaRosa and LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria, hosted the event and presented the 2022 award to Kurt Reiber, Freestore Foodbank’s President & CEO. LaRosa asked that we join in celebrating the Freestore Foodbank for their extensive support in the Southwest Ohio community.
“The Freestore Foodbank connects people to programs and services that provide support on a pathway to stability,” said LaRosa. “By providing resources and connections to community partners, they help people avert crisis and reduce barriers to self-sufficiency. This community connection makes the Freestore Foodbank and Prevent Blindness a highly effective partnership.”
“We thank you for this great honor!” said Reiber upon accepting the award. “Two-thirds of the families who rely on our network of pantries must decide between buying medicine, or food; between having a roof over their heads, or food; and between having heat during those cold winter months, or food.”
“We cannot do this alone. Through partners like, Prevent Blindness, we can truly make a difference for every family that we serve. We need everyone to help make hunger a distant memory. Together we can solve hunger!” he added.
“Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate is proud to honor Reiber and the Freestore Foodbank with the 2022 People of Vision Award,” Amy Pulles, President and CEO of PBO stated, “and we look forward to them chairing the event next year.”
Half of all blindness is preventable, and the number of individuals who are blind or visually impaired is expected to double by the year 2030 if nothing is done to address the problem. Furthermore, it is estimated that the economic impact of visual disorders and disabilities costs approximately $5.4 billion annually in Ohio.
About Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate
Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation’s leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. The Ohio Affiliate of Prevent Blindness is Ohio’s leading volunteer nonprofit public health organization dedicated to prevent blindness and preserve sight. We serve all 88 Ohio counties, providing direct services to 1,000,000 Ohioans annually and educating millions of consumers about what they can do to protect and preserve their precious gift of sight. For more information or to make a contribution, call 800-301-2020. Or, visit us on the web at www.pbohio.org or facebook.com/pbohio and Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/PB_Ohio.
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