Connect Through Correspondence

Correspondence can be a positive part of the healing process for many people after the gift of eye donation and transplantation has occurred. Donor families and cornea transplant recipients alike have told us about its therapeutic effects. That’s why Saving Sight offers donor families and cornea transplant recipients the opportunity to write to each other in a safe and encouraging environment.

The gift of sight is confidential, so your identity will remain anonymous should you choose to participate in the optional correspondence process. Saving Sight acts as an intermediary to accept the letters and then pass them onto the appropriate party, which helps preserve everyone’s privacy. If you decide to participate, please read the suggestions, guidelines, and frequently asked questions below.

What Should I Write About?

We encourage you to share the story of your loved one if you’re a donor family member, or the story of your own transplant experience if you’re a recipient. You can also share a little more about yourself and/or your loved one. For example, hobbies, family, aspirations and other information about yourself.

Guidelines

When sending your letter, simply mail your letter to us at:

Saving Sight
Attn: Correspondence
500 Northwest Plaza Dr. Suite 415
St. Ann, MO 63074

You do not need to include extra postage or envelopes for your letter’s delivery to the other party- we’ll take care of that. Please include a separate note that gives us your full name and address so we can ensure we forward to the correct party. In your letter, please use only your first name to preserve anonymity. Likewise, please do not include your address, phone number or email address in your letter. You can mention careers, but please avoid sharing a specific place of employment.

Frequently Asked Questions

It’s been a while since donation or transplantation has occurred. Is it too late to write a letter?
Generally speaking, no! Many recipients or donor families wait for several months or even a year to write a letter. Even if it’s been several years, Saving Sight is happy to attempt forwarding your letter one. Please know though, that as time goes on, the incidence of address changes may occur more frequently and Saving Sight does not keep in touch with donor families and recipients to maintain updated addresses.

I’m a recipient and my transplant hasn’t fully healed, is it a good idea to participate in correspondence?
Even if you are still healing from your transplant and your vision isn’t perfect, your donor’s family would likely still appreciate hearing from you! As long as you feel like you’re in a place where you feel you can write a letter that expresses your gratitude for the donors gift, we encourage you to do so!

I’m really interested in meeting my donor’s families or loved one’s recipient. Can I do that?
In order to release contact information between donor families and recipients, Saving Sight requires that both parties are in contact with each other through our correspondence program first for a year. Upon completion of that year, if both parties agree to release information to each other for contact via Saving Sight’s waiver, they can connect. For more information on this, please contact our team at 314-584-1710.

What happens if nobody writes back?
Everyone deals with the donation and transplantation experience differently. So, you should be prepared that you may not receive a response, or you may receive a response months or even years later. But also know that no response or a belated response does not mean that your letter wasn’t received or appreciated.