Saving Sight, a national leader in eye banking services, announced that it has entered a new partnership to serve the state of Arkansas alongside Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency (ARORA), the state’s federally designated organ procurement organization. The new partnership began October 7, 2024, and will focus on maximizing the gift of sight through eye donation and transplantation in Arkansas communities.

In this new partnership, Saving Sight will process and distribute ocular tissues for transplantation recovered by the ARORA team. Those tissues will be offered to surgeons performing sight-saving corneal transplants in Arkansas, regionally, and beyond.

As a northern geographical neighbor to ARORA, Saving Sight has a history of serving corneal transplant patients in Arkansas communities who see physicians in the Missouri Ozarks. In 2023, Saving Sight provided tissues for transplant to 69 individuals throughout the state of Arkansas – a number that will grow exponentially over the next year.

“A key ingredient of our work at Saving Sight is stewardship of the gift of donation,” said Tony Bavuso, CEO of Saving Sight. “We are thrilled to work with a like-minded partner like ARORA to ensure the impact of each Arkansan’s gift of sight is truly life-changing for others in their community and beyond.”

Mark Tudor, president and CEO of ARORA affirmed Bavuso’s sentiments adding, “We are very thankful for our partnership with Saving Sight for providing us with another avenue to honor every donation.” Tudor, who is also a donor family member, added “as a donor father whose daughter was a corneal donor, I can truly say that cornea donation provides families like mine an opportunity to change the world through a different lens.”

About Saving Sight

Saving Sight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that aims to change lives by saving sight. Founded in 1960, Saving Sight has become one of the nation’s leading eye banks and is focused on providing innovative solutions to its clinical partners. Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., Saving Sight facilitates eye donation in Missouri, Kansas, and Illinois, impacting the lives of those both near and far through transplantation.

About ARORA

ARORA was established in 1987 as a nonprofit, accredited organ procurement agency. Serving 64 counties across the state, ARORA is headquartered in Little Rock and has a satellite office in northwest Arkansas. ARORA’s mission is to restore lives through the recovery of organs and tissues for transplant. Learn more at www.arora.org.