Victoria couple keeps us close to their hearts

Written by Admin, published on February 16, 2016 Donate Today
We love our donors! Thank you for your support, Hansi and Bish!

We’re fortunate to have a group of passionate and dedicated donors by our side as we work to eliminate avoidable blindness – donors like Bish and Hansi Bhagwanani.

Hansi and Bish have been supporting Operation Eyesight for decades. In fact, Evlyn and Dr. Ben Gullison and Una and Art Jenkyns stayed at their home in Victoria, B.C. for a week. Bish and Hansi took their guests all over the city, visiting every media outlet, minister and surgeon they could – all to increase support for Operation Eyesight. Hansi says they raised over a million dollars!

“I remember licking thousands and thousands of envelopes,” says Hansi. “We’d send newsletters and personal thank you notes to donors in Victoria.”

Today, Hansi is busier than ever. In addition to her full-time job, she makes presentations on behalf of Operation Eyesight at local Rotary Clubs, churches and groups like the Khalsa Diwan Society of Victoria, which has donated more than $10,000 to Operation Eyesight! Hansi also volunteers with the Red Cross and has provided disaster relief for places like New Orleans, Calgary and India.

“You learn to be humble about things and do what you can do to help,” says Hansi. “I’m fortunate I get these opportunities.”

Having visited our projects in India, the Bhagwanani family has seen first-hand just how transformational the gift of sight can be. “Sight is so important,” Hansi says. “Some people live in darkness all their lives, but for a small cost of $50 – not going to a movie one month – you can change somebody’s life forever.”

Hansi and Bish, we really cannot thank you – and your family and friends – enough for your amazing support! Thank you for keeping Operation Eyesight, and those we help, close to your hearts.

We’re always looking for supporters to represent us in their local community. If you’re interested in making presentations on behalf of Operation Eyesight, like Hansi does, please email us at info@operationeyesightindia.org.

We were thrilled when Hansi shared an old Victoria newspaper clipping showing Dr. Ben and Art! After meeting Dr. Ben and hearing about his work as a physician in India, Art founded Operation Eyesight in 1963.
Here’s another old photo of Hansi (centre) dining with the Jenkyns and Gullisons in Victoria. Art is sitting on Hansi’s right and Evlyn is on Hansi’s left.