ORBIS International Announces the Death of the Honorable Oliver Foot, President and Bo...(ountriesaboard the ORBIS Flying Eye Hosp...),Health

Oliver led fundraising efforts that raised more than $200 million in North America, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Hong Kong to fund the humanitarian work of ORBIS. He often served as a catalyst, encouraging host governments and ministers of health to direct their influence to enhance and support national eye care services and policies in their countries. Under his leadership, ORBIS has been endorsed by 70 world leaders, including three secretaries-general of the United Nations and many heads of state, including President Ronald Reagan, President George H. W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, Emperor Akio Hito of Japan, President Fidel Castro of Cuba, King Fahad of Saudi Arabia, President Abdul Kalam of India, and President Jiang Zemin of China.

Oliver is survived by his wife, Gail; his two children, Mary-Rachel and Jesse; and three grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Details will be published on http://www.orbis.org as they become available.

About ORBIS International

ORBIS International is a nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to saving sight worldwide. Since 1982, ORBIS volunteers and staff have directly treated more than 4.4 million people for blindness-related diseases and conditions in more than 85 countries. At the same time, ORBIS has been building local capacity to provide eye care in those countries by training more than 154,000 eye care professionals aboard the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital and in local hospitals. Long-term national blindness prevention programs take place in Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India and Vietnam. To learn more about ORBIS, visit http://www.orbis.org.