Sights for Hope Wins Community Heroes Award from Phillies Charities, Inc.


Sights for Hope has been named a winner of a 2023 Community Heroes award from Phillies Charities, Inc., and has received a $35,000 grant to support its mission.

Phillies Charities, Inc., the philanthropic arm of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, honored 37 nonprofit organizations that demonstrate “going above and beyond to provide vital resources to those in need.” The recipients serve in the Philadelphia area and the areas near the Phillies’ minor league affiliates.

Sights for Hope also will be recognized by Phillies Charities, Inc., on April 15 at Citizens Bank Park before the Phillies’ game against the Colorado Rockies.

Sights for Hope was nominated for the award by IronPigs Charities, the philanthropic arm of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies’ top minor league organization. IronPigs Charities has supported Sights for Hope’s Camp I CAN! summer program for children with permanent visual impairments over several years.

“We deeply appreciate this honor from Phillies Charities, Inc., and it is meaningful because our supporters from IronPigs Charities nominated us,” said Dennis Zehner, Executive Director and CEO of Sights for Hope. “Our Sights for Hope team is full of heroes who go well above and beyond every day. This is a true testament to their devotion, energy, and enthusiastic dedication to transforming lives.”

Sights for Hope transforms the lives of people with visual impairments and blindness by removing the barriers to their independence. Sights for Hope’s services teach adaptive skills to accomplish daily life activities; provide supports that counter the effects of visual impairments and blindness; increase access to medical care, healthy food, and other essentials; and advance solutions that enhance sight capabilities. More than 40% of Sights for Hope’s clients live below or near the federal poverty line. Founded in 1928, Sights for Hope carries forward in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County a tradition of service inspired by Helen Keller and is a member of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind.

Image: Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies; shown on the exterior structure are a sign with the name Citizens Bank Park, pictures of a Phillies baseball cap and a baseball, and a photo of the Phillie Phanatic mascot

Photo by Peter Bond/ CC BY