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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
The GMC Yukon Denali offered in the Final Chance Denali + Serenova fundraiser

Launch story, November 10, 2026

Final Chance Denali + Serenova Fundraiser: Two Vehicles and $50,000 Cash

A 2026 GMC Yukon Denali, Grand Design Serenova trailer and $50,000 cash: explore the prize package through November 27, 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 · 19,076 reviewsTrustpilot
  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    They keep good records of your purchases history

    Get notifications on on purchases and then the information about when the drawing will happen and how it works plus it's for good cause

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Martin Alvarado)

    Martin AlvaradoNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Pediatric Inherited Retinal Blindness Awareness & Impact!

    Pediatric inherited retinal blindness is an important and, unfortunately, overlooked cause. A Race Against Blindness is doing important work and building awareness!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Customer)

    CustomerNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    I hope that through these efforts a…

    I hope that through these efforts a cure for blindness is found and that no one ever has to live with it again.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Jason)

    JasonNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    I absolutely love the work that…

    I absolutely love the work that Kristina and Stephen Johnston are doing for their son Luke and countless others! I am so grateful that I can be apart of this great cause. THANK YOU to the Johnston family!!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Coy)

    CoyNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Love the cause

    Love the cause. Appreciate the follow up and professional way your transparent. I recently developed vision issues that create lots of challenges. So I understand the battles. We need more awareness. God Bless you and your son going forward.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Jori Irish)

    Jori IrishNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    I’m honored to be able to support this…

    I’m honored to be able to support this amazing organization. Praying for Luke and all the other children affected by this.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Tonya Nealy)

    Tonya NealyNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    First I would like to say I think what…

    First I would like to say I think what you guys are doing for these children is such a wonderful blessed thing. And the honesty and hard work that goes into it. and the fact that you guys are blessing others as well with life-changing fundraisers , the good Lord above will bless you and give you the cure for these children. I look forward to seeing these children getting to help that they need and that cure being found.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Michelle Rightnour Grajeda)

    Michelle Rightnour GrajedaNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 3 out of 5 stars

    Good cause

    I believe it's for a good cause and am limited on funds. I am disabled and on a fixed income or I would do more . Would love to win as I will be traveling before I get to old lol.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Lori Williams)

    Lori WilliamsNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Amazing organization and extremely…

    Amazing organization and extremely trust worthy (with strong references) Great communication regarding rules and instructions. Normally don't trust Facebook ads like this but decided it was for a good cause!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Nathan Coon)

    Nathan CoonNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    The prizes are incredible

    The prizes are incredible, but more importantly the dollars raised to help find a cure for this disease is amazing. Money is going exactly where they said it would, keep up the great work!

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Sassie)

    SassieNovember 2026Verified

  • Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    An Excellent Cause

    You seem truly committed to the cause, i.e., you have skin in the game but are serving others in the midst of it. The prizes are excellent. Participation is financially reachable for all. I may be drinking the Kool-Aid, but you seem very enthusiastic and committed to doing this as well as you can.

    Read on Trustpilot (review by Stuart Ferguson)

    Stuart FergusonNovember 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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