Archive
Students Support the World Sight Day Challenge
Ashley Scantling, a student at the Oklahoma College of Optometry at Northeastern State University, was one of the first students to take the World Sight Day Challenge. Ashley has also encouraged 17 of her classmates to follow her lead.
“This is a no brainer. Every student can afford $5 per month. This is our profession and we should be a part of this Challenge”, she said. Ashley and the American Optometric Student Association are encouraging all students to participate in the World Sight Day Challenge—
noting that a $5 donation is the equivalent of giving up one cup of coffee (or a beer!) per month.
Talking the Talk With CIBA Vision
Optometry Giving Sight met with doctors in San Diego, Chicago, Atlanta and Orlando during CIBA Vision client meetings recently. Invaluable information regarding how doctors choose to make their charitable donations was gained from guests at the Orlando meeting. We thank CIBA Vision – which is both a Founding Global Corporate Patron as well as a Platinum National Sponsor in the U.S. – for their support.
Vision Source! Optometrists commit nearly $200,000 to Optometry Giving Sight’s Leaders Campaign
More than 200 Vision Source optometrists joined the Optometry Giving Sight Leaders Campaign at the Vision Source National Meeting in Dallas, Texas, April 18-22. The optometrists committed nearly $200,000 to Optometry Giving Sight, a global fundraising campaign that targets the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error.
The Optometry Giving Sight Leaders Campaign aims to sign up 500 optometrists to make regular contributions of $100 per month to help the estimated 250 million people throughout the world who do not have access to basic eye care services.
“The support from Vision Source, the largest and most influential alliance of independent optometrists in the world, means a great deal for helping those who are needlessly blind,” said Professor Brien Holden, CEO of Optometry Giving Sight. “As more optometrists and their patients lend support to Optometry Giving Sight, more corporate entities, governments and institutional funding sources will be encouraged to match their contributions, sometimes at ratios of as much as ten to one. The multiplier effect of every donation from a single doctor or their practice can be huge.”
With uncorrected refractive error now recognized as the leading form of preventable blindness worldwide, Dr Barry Weiner, Co-Chair of Optometry Giving Sight in the US said that “optometry was now at the forefront of the global effort to eliminate blindness due to uncorrected refractive error by the year 2020”.
“We are delighted to be able to support our international Charity of Choice in these ways,” said Vision Source CEO, Glenn Ellisor. “We truly believe that our executive, members and patients can all play a part in helping some of the many people who are blind or visually impaired simply because they don’t have access to an eye examination and a pair of glasses.”
Dr Ellisor said that the company would continue to work with Optometry Giving Sight to help it meet its target of having 500 of its members actively supporting the Leaders Campaign by the end of 2007.
Signet Armorlite Signs on as Silver National Sponsor
Signet Armorlite, originator of the plastic eyeglass lens in North America, has announced that it will become a Silver National Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight in the United States. “We’d like to see the day when every person has access to the support necessary for good vision. Optometry Giving Sight is a critical component to achieving that goal and Signet Armorlite wants to be part of it,” stated Edward P. DeRosa, Vice President, Sales, Marketing, and Distribution.
Signet Armorlite has manufactured ophthalmic lenses in California for over 50 years. The company holds the exclusive distributorship for KODAK Lenses worldwide and is an Authorized Distributor for 3M adhesive optical supply products in the United States
Success Stories
In Oklahoma, Lin Frieden, who handles marketing for Oklahoma based Vision Source practices, spear-headed a marketing campaign that included Public Services Announcements on both radio and television. As a result, 10 practices in Oklahoma City and eight practices in Tulsa have signed up to participate in the Practice Giving Program.
In Juneau, Alaska, Dr. Jill Geering Matheson’s practice generated $811 in patient donations in the first three months of Practice Giving. “I had a patient yesterday thank me for offering the Optometry Giving Sight program and giving her an opportunity to support people in need. My patients with moderate and large refractive errors can’t imagine what their lives would be like if they didn’t have corrective lenses, “ said Dr. Geering Matheson. This practice has been participating in the Practice Giving Program for eight months.
Dr. Stuart Bark’s office, Family EyeCare Associates in Scottsdale, Arizona, raised a total of $4200 during the 2006 World Sight Day Challenge on October 12. The practice continues to support Optometry Giving Sight through patient education. Joann Valente, a front desk staff member states, “I still tell people about the cause even though the challenge is over. I thought the issues behind the project were extremely important and should be supported throughout the year.”
Direct Mail Campaign
In December, American optometrists were invited to support Optometry Giving Sight via its first ever direct mail campaign. Its Chairman and CEO, Professor Brien Holden has written to all optometrists in the U.S. to introduce the charity and to invite them to ensure that Optometry plays its part in helping to rid the world of one of the leading causes of preventable blindness – uncorrected refractive error.
As a result of the campaign, American optometrists contributed close to $10,000 to Optometry Giving Sight. The majority of these donations were from new donors.
In his letter, Professor Holden highlighted the plight of 120 children in Malawi, Africa who were attending a program for blind children in a local school. A visiting team of optometrists found that only 7 of the children were permanently blind. The remaining 113 children had easily correctable visual impairments or could be helped by low vision aids – 36 of the children only needed a pair of glasses to be able to see clearly.
Make a regular monthly or annual donation click here
Largest Donation
Thank you to Dr. Mario Gutierrez for his generous $5,000 donation to Optometry Giving Sight in the U.S. This is the largest single donation Optometry Giving Sight has received!
Dr. Gutierrez is the Administrator for Vision Source in the San Antonio, Texas area and oversees 21 practices. In addition to his personal donation, Dr. Gutierrez will be implementing the Practice Giving Program in his practice.
Optometry Giving Sight launched in the United States in June 2005 with the American Optometric Association (AOA) signing of a resolution in support of OGS.
American optometrists, state and regional associations and other optometric networks have joined the call to eliminate blindness due to refractive error in under served communities around the world.
Australia Party
The 2006 Australia Party raised over $12,000 for Optometry Giving Sight. Two bands headlined the event: the Bad Habits, comprised of optometrists from Ohio, and the Lost Faculties, comprised of members of the optometric faculty at the University of Waterloo. The party is held each year in conjunction with the American Academy of Optometry. Thank you to all those who attended and donated!
Every Day is World Sight Day
Thank you to all the practices that responded to the 2006 World Sight Day Challenge! Throughout the Fall, optometrists from across the United States responded to a challenge from Optometry Giving Sight to implement its Practice Giving program on or before World Sight Day on October 12.
The challenge of restoring sight to millions of people worldwide did not end on October 12. Please join OGS and implement the Practice Giving program in your practice. For more information on the Practice Giving Program click here.
