Knights Templar Eye Foundation Inc. Renews Support for Children’s Eye Foundation Programs with $375,000 in Grant Awards
(August 14, 2025)– The Children’s Eye Foundation of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (CEF of AAPOS) is pleased to announce another year of grant support from the Knights Templar Eye Foundation (KTEF) to advance pediatric eye care and educational opportunities for future pediatric ophthalmologists.
The award includes $275,000 in support of the Stop Infant Blindness in Africa (SIBA) program, bringing KTEF's lifetime support for SIBA to over $1 million since the program’s inception in 2018. The SIBA program seeks to combat cases of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of childhood blindness in Africa. The new grant will support the expansion of telemedicine-based ROP trainings and screenings that are underway at hospitals in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.
KTEF is also contributing $100,000 toward the KTEF Ophthalmology Resident and Medical Student Travel Grant program for a third year. The travel grant provides stipends to emerging medical professionals to cover the cost of attendance at the AAPOS Annual Meeting. Since the program’s launch in 2023, it has assisted over 100 residents and medical students to attend and present at the meeting, inspiring future physicians to pursue a career in pediatric ophthalmology - a specialty that is in high demand globally.
“The Knights Templar Eye Foundation’s steadfast and continued support for our programs demonstrates a sincere commitment to children’s eye health,” said Dr. Christie Morse, Executive Vice President of CEF of AAPOS. “These latest grants will help us train more doctors and improve pediatric eye care for more kids worldwide.”
“We are pleased to continue our partnership with AAPOS for another year,” said Sir Knight David Goodwin, Executive Director of KTEF. “The Stop Infant Blindness in Africa Program, All Children See Program, and the Travel Grant Awards all help us to achieve our goals of preventing blindness through education and providing access to care. AAPOS is a good steward of our funds and a great professional partner to work with. We look forward to many ventures together in the future.”
The grants build upon a multi-year partnership between KTEF and CEF, with this latest award bringing KTEF’s donation total to $2,034,800 in support of CEF programs, including its All Children See program. All Children See helps uninsured or underinsured children who have failed eye exams to receive a no-cost comprehensive exam from a volunteer pediatric ophthalmologist. Currently in its fifth year, the $2 million grant is being distributed in annual payments of $250,000. For more information about CEF’s programs, visit childrenseyefoundation.org.
About The American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
The American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) is an organization of over 2,000 pediatric ophthalmologists working across the U.S. and Canada to advance the quality of children's eye care, support the training of future pediatric ophthalmologists and support research activities in pediatric ophthalmology and advance the care of adults with strabismus. AAPOS members are certified ophthalmologists that maintain the highest level of competency and ethics in ophthalmology.
About the Children’s Eye Foundation of AAPOS
The Children’s Eye Foundation of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus envisions an end to preventable vision loss and an improved quality of life for visually impaired children worldwide. CEF, founded in 1970, supports four programs: All Children See, Global Education & Training, Stop Infant Blindness in Africa and Vision Through Music® to help fulfill that mission.
About the Knights Templar Eye Foundation
Founded in 1956 by the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, the Knights Templar Eye Foundation is dedicated to improving vision through research, education, and expanded access to care. To date, KTEF has awarded over $181 million in support of its mission. This includes more than $41 million in grants to researchers specializing in pediatric ophthalmology and ophthalmic genetics, as well as $14 million in endowed professorships and research endowments.