(PRESS RELEASE) DALLAS – Good vision is a basic human right, but one in four schoolchildren in the U.S. has an undetected and untreated vision problem that can affect learning. The OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation partners with eye doctors around the country to help children in need see clearly so they can be successful in school and in life. To reach more students, this year the Foundation is encouraging eye doctors to ‘Adopt-A-School’ locally and enroll in Changing Life through Lenses (CLTL). This program provides a complete pair of glasses including lenses, frames and lab services for patients in need at no cost to the practice or the patient.
Clear vision is critical for everyone
Eye doctors can use the Changing Life through Lenses program to provide free glasses to adults and children in need. Vision correction is especially important for kids — school-age children with an uncorrected vision problem can do worse in school and suffer from lower self-esteem than their peers who don’t have vision impairments. To help bridge this gap, the Foundation suggests that eye doctors contact Title 1 schools to ‘Adopt-A-School’ in their community as these schools have a high number of low-income students who may not be able to access vision care. The Changing Life through Lenses website has resources eye doctors can use to identify and contact schools in their area. Optometrists can also rent portable exam equipment through CLTL to provide eye exams outside of their practice.
“I had a student who received glasses from the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation,” school nurse Verby Nash shares. “When she got them, she was smiling and in awe of what she could see. She described everything she had been missing all this time. Kids with vision issues start to accommodate and they don’t realize what they are missing until they have an eye exam and get glasses.”
Filling a need in the U.S. and around the world
In the U.S., there are people in need around the country whose lives can be changed with a pair of glasses. Eye doctors who provide charitable vision care services are called to be that change. Changing Life Through Lenses makes it easy for doctors to start or increase their charitable activities to make a difference in their community. Eye doctors in the U.S. who pledge to provide vision care through the CLTL ‘Adopt-A-School’ program may also be invited to participate in a Foundation-led vision clinic.
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“Our Changing Life Through Lenses ‘Adopt-A-School’ campaign equips eye doctors across the U.S. to support underserved students in their own communities,” said Becky Palm, executive director, OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation North America. “We’re inspired by the generous doctors who work to ensure vision care is accessible to local patients in need, and it’s our goal to amplify their charitable work by providing free glasses to the individuals they help.”
Around the world, uncorrected poor vision affects 2.7 billion people and 90% of them live in developing communities. Thanks to EssilorLuxottica’s commitment to helping eliminate uncorrected poor vision in a generation, the global Foundation has eight regional affiliates in Africa, ASEAN, Europe, Greater China, India, Italy, North America and Oceania that are dedicated to this mission. Since 2013, the Foundation has had a tremendous impact worldwide, providing 623 million people with access to sustainable vision care and helping correct and/or protect the vision of 61 million people. Additionally, OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation is a founding partner of ‘One School at a Time,’ a program of ‘Berkeley Vision – Every Child Sees.’
To register for Changing Life Through Lenses and pledge to ‘Adopt-A-School,’ visit here. To learn more about the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation’s global impact, visit here.
