MIRA Foundation honors Dr. Gale Martin
Two guide dogs named after the world-renowned ophthalmologist

MIRA Foundation USA, an organization that pairs guide dogs with children between the ages 11 and 16, has honored the late Gale Martin, M.D., founder of Carolina Eye Associates (CEA), Pinehurst, N.C., and a world-renowned ophthalmologist specializing in cataract and refractive surgery. MIRA is naming two of its guide dogs "Gale" and "Martin" after the ophthalmologist, who succumbed to cancer in 2008. CEA has been instrumental in backing MIRA over the last few years. Thanks to its support in 2010, MIRA was able to provide a guide dog to an 11-year-old girl in California. CEA's support of the Foundation continues, allowing the organization to pair six students with guide dogs in the coming months. "Carolina Eye's support has been critical to our ability to increase our candidates for guide dogs from two in 2010 to six in 2011," said Beth Daniels, executive director, MIRA USA. "We already have five students who have contacted us for next year's program, and we have contacted a number of eye clinics around the country to invite them to join Carolina Eye as a Corporate Visionary Partner. It would not be an understatement to say that Carolina Eye has set the bar for ophthalmologists around the country."