(PRESS RELEASE) DALLAS – Essilor has announced the names of the four eyecare professionals and three Essilor employees who will participate in a mission trip to Southeast Asia in March, the capstone of its #DifferenceMakers campaign. The #DifferenceMakers campaign, launched on World Sight Day, has recognized those eyecare professionals and employees who embody the company’s mission of improving lives by improving sight across industry print, online and social media platforms.
“The response to the #DifferenceMakers campaign has been overwhelming and inspiring,” said Dr. Millicent Knight, senior vice president customer development. “Our industry peers nominated 32 deserving eyecare professionals who are making a difference in their communities and around the world. And our own employees have engaged in a big way, with more than 1,100 participating in the initiative. Those employees logged more than 1,400 volunteer hours and donated more than $22,000 to vision charities in two short months.”
A panel of judges narrowed the 32 eyecare professional nominations down to three winners based on their passion for making a difference and the impact their actions have had in the lives of others. The eyecare professionals who were chosen are:
- Dr. Sergul Erzurum, Youngstown, OH
- Dr. Hannah Cho, Irvine, CA
- Dr. Will Tantum & Aislynn Hall, Blount County, TN
Of the 1,100 Essilor employees participating in the campaign, 28 of them earned gold level status, earning them entry into a drawing to participate in the mission trip. The three employees whose names were drawn were:
- Darlene Ford, Piney Flats, TN
- Kim Gromko, Greensboro, NC
- Samara Monte, Northvale, NJ
A profile of each of these deserving #DifferenceMakers can be found in the Stories of Good section of EssilorUSA.com/DifferenceMakers.
“At Essilor, we’ve set an ambitious goal to eradicate poor vision by the year 2050,” said Knight. “If we work together as an industry, it can be done, and it’s the efforts of #DifferenceMakers like these that will get us there.”