Community Corner

Foundation Fighting Blindness Names Westminster Couple 'Volunteers of the Year'

Dot and Steve Dutterer were honored for excellent service in supporting the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Westminster residents Dot and Steve Dutterer were named Volunteers of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic Region by the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

The annual honor acknowledges excellent service in support of the Foundation’s mission to save and restore sight lost to retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, and Usher syndrome. The Foundation Fighting Blindness is a national non-profit organization dedicated to vision-saving retinal disease research.

“Without inspiring community leaders like the Dutterers, the Foundation Fighting Blindness would not be in the position we are today—actually restoring vision in human clinical trials,” said Bill Schmidt, CEO, Foundation Fighting Blindness. “We are truly grateful for their ongoing drive to make a difference for the more than 10 million Americans living with retinal diseases.”

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According to a news release, the Dutterers’ “Team Lancelot” has been instrumental to the success of the annual Baltimore 5K VisionWalk, reaching out through a passionate letter writing campaign each year. Since 2001, they’ve raised over $270,000 for sight-saving research through VisionWalk and other Foundation fundraising events.

Steve, the retired director of finance for the City of Westminster, is blind due to retinitis pigmentosa, a progressive, genetic eye disease. Despite Steve’s vision limitations, the Dutterers are often found cruising the globe, where they share their story and determination to support research with fellow travelers, raising awareness and engaging new support for their VisionWalk team, the news release reports. 

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