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Non-profit funding sight-saving research for children

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

17,000+ 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

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.
  • 17,000+ 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 October 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
  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.

    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

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 · 17,016 reviewsTrustpilot
  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    An amazing organization

    I just recently came across your Facebook page and did do some research on your organization, thank you and your family for the amazing work you are doing. I have even shared your page and information with my family and friends. Again, thank you and your family for all your hard work and dedication.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by AJ Santagate)

    AJ SantagateOctober 2026Verified

  • Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    We help this cause as much as possible

    I help as much as we are financially able to. Having a severe category grandson with ASD, we know the financial burden. We help our son and daughter in law financially and care giving to ease their load.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Jim Capurso)

    Jim CapursoOctober 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Just helping people even with a small…

    Just helping people even with a small donation, gives me satisfaction knowing I did what I could.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by David Haxby)

    David HaxbyOctober 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    The foundation makes their mission very…

    The foundation makes their mission very apparent. It’s a very good cause by the way. Kids not being able to see is heartbreaking. I don’t ever enter these contests, ever, but did because of their mission. Win or lose, God bless and I pray for your success.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Charles Jacobs)

    Charles JacobsOctober 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Its a great way to donate to such an…

    Its a great way to donate to such an important cause. The added bonus is the chance to win in one of thier awesome giveaways

    Read on Trustpilot (review by jeff)

    jeffOctober 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Why reason I support the blindness or…

    Why reason I support the blindness or help them donation as treatment to be better future because I love special people and I do understand they have been through difficult time same as me I have been through tough life because I am deaf (hard of hearing). I did helped to blind or deaf blind people before it really touch my heart.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Justin)

    JustinOctober 2026Verified

  • Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    I purchased tickets for the upcoming…

    I purchased tickets for the upcoming drawing of the F-250. When I hit the link to view my entries the site indicates that I have active entries. I emailed the staff 3 different times and have not received a response.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Andrew Slipkevych)

    Andrew SlipkevychOctober 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    A Race Against Blindness makes donating…

    A Race Against Blindness makes donating exciting and easy--which is the gold standard for raising money! I donate consistently to the organization because of the mission along with the hope that I could secure money for my child's future education needs. So it's win-win for my family and the founder's family.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Todd Wilson)

    Todd WilsonOctober 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Wonderful work this company is doing…

    Wonderful work this company is doing for people with blindness! Exciting giveaways, congratulations to all the winners! Lee up the good work!!!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Carleen Davis)

    Carleen DavisOctober 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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