Celebrating 5 years
It’s been 5 years since the Dry Eye Foundation registered as a non-profit!
Founded by Rebecca Petris, Rosalyn Owen, and Aidan Moore in October 2018, the Dry Eye Foundation has always been a small operation aimed at improving quality of life for people with dry eye disease.
When exactly does a nonprofit come into existence?
10/25/18: We incorporated as a non-profit in Washington State
11/8/18: We had our first board meeting, elected directors, and approved our Bylaws
11/12/18: We ran a GoFundMe to raise a $5,000 startup fund (in total, we raised $6,226!)
2/28/19: We received our 501(c)3 determination letter from the IRS effective 10/25/18
Or... 2005: Rebecca started the DryEyeZone
We missed our 5 year anniversary by a few weeks, but we hope you'll forgive us for being distracted working on eye drop safety issues!
Our milestones
We’ve been busy for the last 5 years. Here are some of our most important achievements and programs: Our Milestones.
2022 Annual Report: Published April 2023, this is a compendium of what we accomplished, learned, and wanted to share from our fist four years. Read here.
Recent press coverage: Check out our blog at eyedropsafety.org, where we’ve posted a dozen recent articles that highlight the Dry Eye Foundation’s Eye Drop Safety campaign.
How have we helped you?
If you’ve been helped on one of 1000+ Helpline calls, 250+ zoom support group meetings, 20 webinars, on DryEyeTalk or MyBigFatScleralLens, reading the DryEyeZone or you’ve just recently found our website eyedropsafety.org, please share your story or help us celebrate in the comments!
If there’s anything we can do to support you, connect with us!
Please Donate!
If you’re able, please consider making a donation of $5 or more to celebrate our 5th anniversary. We’ll even send you a print copy of our 2022 Annual Report, a great document to help explain the burden of ocular surface disease and ocular surface pain to family, friends, and doctors!
About us
The Dry Eye Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit patient advocacy and education organization whose mission is to improve quality of life for people with ocular surface diseases.
DEF began informally in 2005 as the Dry Eye Zone, a popular patient-run online community and information portal, and in 2018 incorporated and received its 501(c)(3) status.
Find us on Guidestar (Gold rating)
