ONCE, or Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (National Organization of Spanish blind people), is a Spanish foundation founded on December 13, 1938 to raise funds to provide services for the blind and people with serious visual impairment. Although it is overseen by a board of patrons made up of representatives from various Spanish ministries, it does enjoy a certain amount of freedom of movement in the day-to-day running of its activities, and its general council is democratically elected from among its members. In June 2006, membership of the organization was 66,851 people, of whom 40% were over the age of 65.