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Non-profit funding sight-saving research for children

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

19,000+ 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.
  • 19,000+ 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
Todd H. with the custom Ford F-150 Raptor and Ford Explorer ST he won together

Winner story, November 10, 2026

Who Won the Ultimate Ford Garage Fundraiser (Raptor + Explorer ST)? Todd H. from Iowa

Todd H. from Iowa won the custom F-150 Raptor, the Explorer ST and $40,000 cash on Sept 27, 2026, after both 250th Anniversary winners chose cash.

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 · 19,016 reviewsTrustpilot
  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    What a great program - easy and transparent

    What a great program. Blindness does not have to keep you from living a full life. Thank you for putting the rules of your contest right up front so I didn't have to search for them. It made it easy and comfortable to immediately help out!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Lisa Slauson)

    Lisa SlausonNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    I'm grateful for this fundraiser

    I'm grateful for this fundraiser. We need more compassionate people like this helping these kids through this awesome nonprofit foundation. Praying for many blessings and favor on this ministry.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Don't buy from Enchantgo)

    Don't buy from EnchantgoNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Great cause.

    My career has been in movies and television, plus photography, so I can appreciate how important the gift of sight can be. Happy to support a great cause.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Keith Potter)

    Keith PotterNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    organization continues to be on…

    This organization continues to be on the same, beautiful track. Keeping the reason for their existence clear, pure and honest. We continue to pray for the success of this non-profit organization. We pray for many children to keep their eyesight as a result of many people supporting this work. We thank God for this family and their dedication to their children. Blessings always 🙏🏿 🙏🏼🙏🏾

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Chach)

    ChachNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Great Cause and Fabulous Prizes!

    I love their mission and their giveaways! They make it easy to donate to such a great cause and the opportunity to win an adventure vehicle, is just icing on the cake.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by K ARTHUR)

    K ARTHURNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Communication

    Communication through emails is always excellent. It’s an awesome charity and cause to help out people who aren’t as fortunate as everyone else at the moment.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by David)

    DavidNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Great fundraiser for blindness

    Easy to donate online. Contest is fully explained. The cause is close to my heart and so important. The prizes are wonderful.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Mary Ann P. Cook)

    Mary Ann P. CookNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    The mission is a great cause

    The mission is a great cause. It's easy to enter there sweepstake's. Open dialogue on the whole process and everything I have seen and read makes me feel comfortable about the legitamacy of the organization.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by William M.)

    William M.November 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Great information about what they are…

    Great information about what they are doing. Very easy to use website. Honest , communicates well , awesome prizes.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Nathan Mosbrucker)

    Nathan MosbruckerNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    The video is very clear and to the…

    The video is very clear and to the point. Doing a great job! And for a good cause! Thanks

    Read on Trustpilot (review by P L)

    P LNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    A cure for childhood blindness is…

    A cure for childhood blindness is relevant in today’s time with this current research in studies for a cure makes this donation worthwhile.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Darren McDowell)

    Darren McDowellNovember 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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