Optometry Giving Sight leads coalition in support of World Sight Day Challenge
(Denver CO – 15 September): Leading North American optometric companies, networks, schools and practices will once again join forces in a coalition led by Optometry Giving Sight in support of World Sight Day (October 13 th ) and the World Sight Day Challenge, which runs throughout September and October.
This is the 10 th year of the Challenge, which encourages all members of the vision care community to make a donation or participate in a fundraising event to help fund sustainable eye health projects for people who are needlessly blind or vison impaired. This year will have a specific focus on the need for effective, sustainable eye health initiatives for children and adolescents as part of the Our Children’s Vision campaign.
Coalition members include ABB Optical Group, Alcon Foundation, AllAboutVision.com®, Bausch + Lomb, CooperVision, Essilor, EyePromise, FYidoctors, Vision Source®, VOSH International and VSP Global®.
They will be joined by A&A Optical, Acuity Pro, Advance Optical, Allergan, Amcon, Art Optical, Bard Optical, Clearvision, DAC Vision, De Rigo REM, Europa, Eye Recommend, GPLI / CLMA, Heidelberg, Hilco, Jobson, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Canada), Linden Optometry, Match Eyewear, MODO, Nikon/Elaine Turner, Optos, OSI, PECAA, Primary Care Optometry Magazine/Slack Inc., Reptile Sun, Ron's Optical, RX Optical, Signet Armorlite, Synergeyes, Texas State Optical, Tura, Vision One Credit Union, VmaxVision, Wave Contact Lens, Westgroupe, White Ophthalmic Supply Ltd, Wiley X, and Zeiss (Canada), all of whom are participating in the Challenge in some way. More companies, networks and practices are signing up every day.
“We are excited to be leading this industry based coalition in support of the 10 th Anniversary of the World Sight Day Challenge in North America,” said Clive Miller, CEO of Optometry Giving Sight. “We are grateful for the support that we receive and encourage all eye and vision care companies, networks, schools and practices to take the Challenge and make a donation so that we can help end avoidable blindness and give sight and hope to the millions of people – including children and adolescents - in need.”
For more information about the World Sight Day Challenge, or to make your donation today, please visit givingsight.org or call +1 888 OGS GIVE (USA) / +1 403-670- 2619 (Canada).
Breakout: WSDC Coalition members have a range of activities planned to raise awareness of the importance of eye health and to provide eye care and eyewear to people in need.
ABB OPTICAL GROUP is running a campaign for their customers and will donate 1% of ALL Digital Eye Lab sales for a 5-week period leading up to and through World Sight Day. Their staff will also participate in a variety of World Sight Day awareness activities.
Alcon Foundation is running its Cycle for Sight 20/20 Challenge. Reaching their goal of 2,020 Alcon participants across their sites will trigger a $25k donation to OGS. Many sites, including Australia, Singapore, UK and US, are ready to ride.
AllAboutVision will be conducting the week-long “Share for Sight” social media campaign to promote eye health and Optometry Giving Sight. This year, the Share for Sight campaign will feature a Twitter chat on October 13 at 2 pm (PT). Each social media share supports the World Sight Day Challenge!
Bausch + Lomb will kick off its World Sight Day fundraising efforts with an employee meeting showcasing the company’s recent outreach trip to Haiti as well as the positive impact of partnering and supporting Optometry Giving Sight. During the meeting, employees will be encouraged to participate in various fundraising opportunities through October. The company will also run a social media campaign to raise awareness of the importance of eye health in people’s lives.
CooperVision, a Global Gold Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight, is conducting its 5th annual global “Fight for Sight” campaign, in which employees are encouraged to participate in fundraising events and activities organized at their local CooperVision sites. Employee donations will be matched by The Cooper Companies, CooperVision’s parent company.
Essilor of America is partnering with the Essilor Vision Foundation (EVF) to host a Kids Vision Fest at their Dallas headquarters. More than 400 students will be bused in to receive eye exams and glasses. Essilor employees and local ODs will be volunteering throughout the day. In addition, all U.S. based Essilor employees will be invited to make their own pledge to have an eye exam as part of the company’s Love to See Change challenge. Each pledge will generate a donation of $1 from Essilor in support of various vision related charities.
Essilor Group in Canada will launch multiple screening events and collect pledges across Canada with donations benefiting vision health initiatives for Canadian children in First Nations communities.
Eyepromise will support multiple activities in September and October including employee initiatives and product promotions. They will also make a donation on behalf of the Arizona Fall League’s 2016 batting champion during the award presentation.
FYidoctors and Vision Source clinics in Canada will undertake local and corporate fundraising initiatives throughout October. FYIdoctors “$1 dollar for every like” campaign begins October 1 st on Facebook and has received huge success in previous years. The company matches every dollar raised by their doctors and on their social media channels.
Vision Source® is encouraging Member Support Center colleagues, Administrators, VSRs and Members to take the Challenge, with part of the proceeds to benefit the establishment of a School of Optometry in Haiti.
VSP Global will conduct an outreach event in New Orleans, with a focus on child eye health. Staff in their offices in Sacramento, Ohio and New York are raising funds for a Travel Fellowship for international faculty to teach specialty topic(s) at the School of Optometry in Nicaragua.
Notes to Editor
World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. It is coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) as part of the VISION 2020 Global Initiative. It is supported by eye health organizations around the world – including Optometry Giving Sight - and is included on the official World Health Organization (WHO) calendar.
2016 is the fourth year of the WHO Global Action Plan which has the rolling theme: Universal Eye Health. This year, the call to action for World Sight Day is: Stronger Together. World Sight Day is Thursday October 13 th .
Optometry Giving Sight is the only global fundraising initiative that specifically targets the prevention of blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error (URE) – simply the need for an eye examination and glasses. It was established in 2003 by the Brien Holden Vision Institute, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and the World Council of Optometry, as a means of mobilizing support from the global vision care profession and industry to help eliminate the backlog of people who are needlessly blind or vision impaired – currently estimated at more than 600 million worldwide. It is a registered charity in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Optometry Giving Sight funds the development of sustainable eye and vision care projects in communities where these do not currently exist. These projects focus on local training and capacity building; infrastructure development and the delivery of accessible and affordable vision care services.
Our Children’s Vision is an initiative of the Brien Holden Vision Institute and Vision For Life - Essilor, supported by Revo, Optometry Giving Sight, World Council of Optometry and the International Council of Ophthalmology – aiming for every child, everywhere to have access to eye care.
Here are some examples of how donations to this year’s World Sight Day Challenge can help:
$250 can screen and provide access to vision correction where needed for 50 children
$500 can help train teachers to conduct visual acuity tests in the classroom
$1,000 can provide access to vision screening and referrals for a whole school
$1,500 can help governments develop policies that prescribe eye health programs in all schools