The retreat is called Sewing for Sight, Saturday, Jan. 11 quilters will gather at St. George for the 13th time to raise funds for the San Lucas-Toliman Mission in Guatemala.

In the 13 years since the retreat began, it has raised $189,000 for San Lucas. Ann Wendinger, a founder of the Sewing for Sight retreat, said they hope to break $200,000 this year.

Wendinger said Sewing for Sight began as a method to support Doctors Christopher Wallyn and Michael Merck and their “Foundation for Saving.” Since 1992, the two doctors have traveled to San Lucas to help deliver sight-saving eye care to those in need.

Wendinger said much of the work done by Wallyn and Merck would be considered routine in the United States, but in San Lucas, it can be hard to schedule.

Quilters participate in the 2024 Sewing for Sight retreat at the St. George Parish Center. Money raised from the quilt retreat goes to the Foundation for Saving Sight to help restore sight to needy residents at the San Lucas-Toliman Guatemala Catholic mission. Photo by Fritz Busch

In 2009, Ann Wendinger traveled with Dr. Wallyn to witness the impact of this service.

“It was life-changing to see,” Wendinger said. “They are so limited in eye care and eye health.”

She said in the United States cataract surgery is an out-patient treatment, but in San Lucas, they did not have the equipment available. During Wallyn’s visits to San Lucas, he would treat patients who were unable to treat cataracts. She remembered some of the patients had cataracts like stones over their eyes.

“The medical care Wallyn provided was life-changing to the people of San Lucas,” Wendinger said. She remembers one man has the procedure done and was able to clearly see his wife for the first time in 11 years.

After that visit in 2009, Wendinger made a promise to help the cause. In 2012, she started Sewing for Sight with her business partners and friends Jackie Forst and Cindy Wendinger. The idea behind Sewing for Sight is to create a day quilting retreat. Quilters pay a fee for one of 72 spots at the parish center and can quilt from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. It is 14 hours of quilting with meals provided.

Wendinger said their hope for the first quilting retreat was to raise $500. To their surprise, the retreat proved extremely popular.

“It was better than we hoped,” Forst said. It turned out there were a lot of quilters who liked the idea of spending the full day focusing on their hobby.

In addition, Forst believes people donating to Sewing for Sight appreciated the money raised going directly to helping the people of San Lucas.

“There is no overhead,” Forst said. All proceeds go to San Lucas, they do not even use funds to cover postage.

Another benefit of the Sewing for Sight retreat was seeing how much has improved in San Lucas over the last 13 years. The donations have allowed Wallyn and Merck to make necessary purchases for the clinic.

Advancements in image scanning technology now allow a technician to photograph a patient’s eye and send the digital image to the United States. Wallyn and Merck can screen patients all year round and prioritize treatments and surgeries during visits to Guatemala.

Every year, the Sewing for Sight retreat has a purchase goal. In 2024, they generated enough funds to purchase a laser that allows them to treat glaucoma patients and eliminates the need for drops.

In 2025, the next equipment purchase will be a diagnostic instrument for Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). The OCT would benefit diabetic and glaucoma patients. The machine helps determine if glaucoma nerve damage is progressing and can find blood vessel leakage in diabetic eyes.

The doctors are looking to purchase a used OCT model estimated between $20,000 and $25,000.

The Sewing for Sight quilt retreat for Sat. Jan. 11 still has open space for those interested in joining. The nonprofit also accepts donations year-round.

For more information, visit www.regeyecenter.com/foundation-for-saving sight. Follow Sewing For Sight on Facebook.