
The Center for the Partially Sighted will honor a local doctor and his family for their contributions to the center.
By Joe Fasbinder / Special to The Malibu Times
A gala night of entertainment and auctions is in store this Sunday to benefit the Center for the Partially sighted and to honor a Malibu family, among others, that has helped to give the gift of sight to children with limited vision.
Dr. Richard Silver, an optometrist, will be honored along with his wife, Paulette, and the couple’s three sons, Jason, Alex and Matthew, for the family’s contributions to the charitable group.
Silver has had a private practice in Santa Monica for 25 years, and he provided special effects contact lenses for many movies, putting strange eyes into the “X-Men” and Jim Carrey in “The Mask.”
“I was working right down the street from the center, and through people I met, I just started working with the group,” Silver said.
His contributions to the center included working with young people with limited vision and helping raise funds for computers for deserving young people with eyesight problems.
Silver’s oldest son, Jason, also contributes to the group. The college student-who, along with his siblings, attended Malibu’s Webster Elementary School-founded the 20/20 Sports Experience under the umbrella of the center, with the goal of providing visually impaired children the chance to enjoy spectator sports. Sports Experience regularly arranges for donated tickets, T-shirts, food and transportation to games for partially sighted children.
“The honor really surrounds Jason and the work he has done for the center,” Silver said. “When he was in the summer of the 11th grade, he decided it wasn’t enough to share sports with his friends and family and thought it would be a good idea to bring partially sighted children to the games.
“That was the start. He wanted to get patients at the center into games so he contacted the Dodgers and Clippers and Galaxy and got them to donate tickets and sports paraphernalia. He’s been doing this for three years.”
Today, Jason Silver is attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, working toward an MBA in sports management. His organization can be found on the web at www.2020sportsexperience.com.
The Lesner family of Westwood and the Moss family of San Marino will also be honored for their contributions to the center.
There will be a silent auction, as well as an online auction to raise funds for the center’s programs.
Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and host of “Good Day L.A.,” Steve Edwards, will emcee the event, called “Hope in Sight,” and musical entertainment will be provided by composer-performer Burt Bacharach.
“The contribution the Silver family has made to the center and to the community is inspirational. By honoring them, we celebrate all that is possible for people with impaired sight; whether they are working, volunteering or just enjoying life at a sporting event,” said Dr. LaDonna Ringering, the center’s president and CEO. “Proceeds from this special event will help enable more people with impaired sight to live their lives to the fullest.”
According to its Web site, the center, founded in 1978, offers vision rehabilitation to needy people in Southern California through a broad range of services including low-vision optometrists, psychotherapists, orientation and mobility specialists, and rehabilitation educators.
More than 2,500 children and adults receive the center’s services each year. In addition, the center conducts research, trains professionals and paraprofessionals in low vision rehabilitation, and educates the general public regarding the needs and capabilities of the partially sighted.
The “Hope in Sight” gala event will take place Sept. 10 at the Skirball Cultural Center. Individual or group table tickets to the gala can be obtained by calling 310.821.1857. More information on the Center for the Partially Sighted can be obtained by calling 310.458.3501 or on the Web at http://low-vision.org