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Non-profit funding sight-saving research for children

Check our Past Winners page for all past winners! ✨🌟

18,800+ reviews · rated 4.9 Excellent on Trustpilot and Google

We’re Funding Sight-Saving Clinical Trials to Treat Childhood Blindness.

Our goal is to advance therapies for pediatric inherited retinal diseases. Our current target: we are fundraising for rare disease research and gene-agnostic therapies for childhood blindness.

ENTER A FUNDRAISERSee our impact
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Current Fundraisers

You can make an impact on saving childhood eyesight by entering our giveaway fundraisers.

How our fundraisers work

Built on trust and transparency

Learn how you can make an impact on sight-saving research and have a chance to win a life-changing prize.

  1. Donate to support sight-saving researchEntries are automatically captured and can be seen in your Donor Portal.
  2. Winner selection by third-party adminWe aren't involved in the winner selection process, to ensure fairness and compliance.
  3. Winner livestream announcementWe announce all winners live on social media. See our past winner calls!
  4. It's time for winner day!For vehicle prizes, we fly the winner to Arizona to get the keys, a free-and-clear title, and the prize cash.

What you can check for yourself

  • Registered 501(c)(3), EIN 92-2174042Exempt under Section 501(c)(3); look us up on the IRS and Candid.
  • 18,800+ verified reviews on Trustpilot and GoogleRated 4.9 Excellent. Read what past entrants and winners say.
  • Registered and bonded sweepstakesEligibility, all methods of entry, and start and end dates are published before every fundraiser.
  • Donor PortalCheck your entries for any fundraiser you've joined.
Fundraiser FAQs

Our impact

Sight-saving research funded

$6.1M

granted to sight-saving research as of November 2026, from giveaway fundraisers and direct donations. Every mile below was paid for by entries like yours.

  1. $1MFirst grant: AXV-101 gene therapy for BBS1

    To Axovia Therapeutics, to move a gene therapy for retinitis pigmentosa caused by BBS1 toward a clinical trial.

    Oct 2024
  2. $2MManufacturing and safety studies

    Second Axovia grant: GLP toxicology, manufacturing, and the regulatory work needed before a trial could open.

    Dec 2024 · announced Feb 2025
  3. $1MClinical trial authorization

    Third Axovia grant, bringing AXV-101 funding to $4M; the UK trial application was cleared in Q3 2025.

    Sep 2025
  4. $1.1MTrial fully funded

    Closed the remaining funding gap; RAB's total funding for AXV-101 reaches $5.1M, from lab to first patient.

    Dec 2025 · announced Jan 2026
  5. $1MGene-agnostic research

    With Foundation Fighting Blindness: $775,000 to the RD Fund for gene-agnostic research, matched dollar-for-dollar by the Gund Foundation Challenge, and $225,000 to Dr. Thomas Mendel at Ohio State.

    Jun 2026
  6. OpenResearch Grants Program

    Researchers worldwide can now apply for RAB funding through the Grants Portal.

    Aug 2026
  7. Next grantThe next grant

    Decided by the fundraisers running now.

    Enter a fundraiser
Where the totals come from

Amounts and dates come from our grant records and update when a new grant is announced. Each grant links to its announcement where available.

Visit the Grants Portal

About us

We were told there was nothing we could do.

It isn't a race we run. It's a race against time. Kristina and Stephen Johnston founded A Race Against Blindness after their son Luke was diagnosed with Bardet-Biedl syndrome, a rare genetic condition that is slowly taking his sight. What began as a race to fund one gene therapy for one gene has grown into funding research across inherited retinal diseases, a grants program for scientists, and an education hub for families.

  1. 2020Luke's diagnosis, and a decision

    No treatment existed for RP caused by BBS1. We decided to fund one.

  2. 2023A Race Against Blindness is founded

    Our family became the first donor, donating our first prize: the 2023 Adventure Van giveaway fundraiser that started it all.

  3. 2024First $1 million grant

    To Axovia Therapeutics for AXV-101, a gene therapy for RP caused by BBS1.

  4. 2026Initiation of the AXV-101 gene therapy clinical trial

    A total of $5.1M in grant support from RAB made this trial initiation possible.

  5. 2026Expanding our impact

    New $1M grant to gene-agnostic clinical research in partnership with Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Read our storyMeet the team

See our Feature on Good Morning America!

Luke’s story of seeing the world before losing more vision was featured on GMA, helping propel our mission to the national level.

Winner's circle

Recent winners

View all past winners

Real winners

Latest fundraiser stories

Who won, how the day unfolded, and what every entry funded for children with inherited retinal diseases.

All fundraiser stories
Magic, Miles & Mochas #2 fundraiser prize

Launch story, November 7, 2026

Magic, Miles & Mochas #2 Fundraiser: A Sienna, Disney and $30,000 Cash

Win a 2026 Toyota Sienna Platinum, Disney award, Starbucks and $30,000 cash, or $100,000 cash. Runs October 26, 2026 to December 25, 2026.

Read the story

Don't take our word for it. Take theirs.

Every review you see here is collected and verified by Trustpilot, not by us. We can't edit them, hide them, or pick the order.

We show every star rating, one through five, because that's what transparency means.

ExcellentTrustScore 4.9 out of 5Rated 4.9 / 5 · 18,867 reviewsTrustpilot
  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    You have a very noble mission—looking…

    You have a very noble mission—looking after the well-being of children. Thank you, and please keep donating.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Rafael Hernandez)

    Rafael HernandezNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Impressed with the organization/fundraiser

    Easy to use donation format. It’s for a great cause. I love that is a method of drawing a ton of engagement. Great work! Master class level of fundraising!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Hannah W)

    Hannah WNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Trust in the Lord with all your heart…

    Open lines of communication is essential with this type of charity. Unfortunately we live at a time where most are apprehensive about contributing. Your updates and content share with the charity and it's goals as well as the contest results and where to view not just current winners but past winners make it easier to trust your platform is honest and forthcoming. Good luck to every who contributed and may your journey for curing childhood blindness yield results and major break throughs. In Jesus Name.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Charlotte Hogan)

    Charlotte HoganNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    This is the 3 contest I have entered

    This is the 3 contest I have entered, and they post who won. I hope it's me this time. I am glad to help with rausing money.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Robert)

    RobertNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    First time!

    Everything was easy to understand and navigate through. I enjoyed the live reveal of the winner! Always nice to be able to congratulate someone who was just blessed with a big win!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by LisaM)

    LisaMNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 3 out of 5 stars

    Scam?

    Gave my hundred dollar donation that never heard from them about who won the raffle! I just wonder if the whole thing is a scam I see them on Facebook constantly.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Brad Banks)

    Brad BanksNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Help support this important mission.

    I sincerely applaud the mission and am happy to contribute. Their website is informative and well designed, I learned so much. Thank you for what you do!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Renee Swindall)

    Renee SwindallNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    I’m happy to support!!

    I’m happy to support A Race Against Blindness. As a participant in their giveaways, I appreciate the opportunity to win an exciting prize while supporting a cause that matters. Their mission to help children facing vision loss gives the experience a deeper meaning for me. Thank you for raising awareness and giving people a way to get involved!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by David Wade)

    David WadeNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Win Win Experience

    I love that these fundraisers are a win even if I don’t come away with the main prize! Yes, it would be amazing to have a reliable vehicle for my family. But no matter what, the money is going to an amazing cause and I enjoy being able to contribute a little!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Alyssa Tilley)

    Alyssa TilleyNovember 2026Verified

Reviews come from real donors and supporters who entered a fundraiser or had a direct interaction with our team, each one verified by Trustpilot.

Read all reviews on Trustpilot

Grant funding updates

The impact you made possible

Blindness Education Resources

Are you looking for education or resources for blindness?

As a family-run nonprofit and parents of a child facing blindness, we know how it felt when we got the diagnosis and didn't know where to begin. The resources were limited, and we felt alone. This education hub is here to help change that.

Open the Education Hub

Where would you like to start?

A mother and son in matching caps and RAB shirts smile side by side.

RAB educational series

Learn with Dr. Steve Johnston

Blindness Education Podcasts with Co-Founder Dr. Steve Johnston

Explore the full series on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

For information only. Discuss clinical trial information with your retina specialist.

Meet the Team

We founded the nonprofit when we found out our son has a rare genetic condition and is slowly going blind. But that really only scratches the surface in terms of our motivation. Since learning of Luke's diagnosis, we have become strongly connected to the rare-diseases community. While rare diseases are actually not unusual, with more than 7,000 diseases classified as rare, each one individually often affects only a small number of people. Thus many rare diseases don't receive enough attention and resources to help fund research for adequate treatments or even possible cures.

Stay in the race

New fundraisers, winners, and grant news, about twice a month. Questions? The Help Center is our front door.

Visit the Help Center

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