Gund pledges $50 million for blindness research

by The Associated Press
| June 21, 2014 8:57 PM

COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) — Businessman and philanthropist Gordon Gund is pledging $50 million in matching donations as part of an effort to restore vision for some blind people.

Gund is chairman of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, based in Columbia, Maryland. The 74-year-old former owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers lost his sight to a degenerative retinal disease at age 30.

On Saturday, the foundation announced that Gund will match $50 million or more in contributions to fund research to cure retinal diseases that cause blindness. The goal is to raise $100 million total by 2020.