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Wisconsin governor proclaims Oct. 9 World Sight Day in the state
MIDDLETON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Optometric Association (WOA) and Optometry Giving Sight announced that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle proclaimed Oct. 9 as World Sight Day in Wisconsin.
World Sight Day, held this year on Oct. 9, is a global event that seeks to bring awareness and action to the elimination of avoidable blindness by the year 2020. Each year, Optometry Giving Sight issues its World Sight Day Challenge and asks optometrists to donate exam fees, make a regular donation and plan a practice celebration to raise funds for projects that provide vision care, local training and infrastructure support for people in countries where such services do not currently exist.
“There are more than 300 million men, women and children around the world who are blind or vision impaired simply because they don’t have access to an eye exam and a pair of glasses,“ Governor Doyle said in the proclamation. “Success [in addressing this] requires global collaboration through increased political and professional commitment to the prevention of vision impairment.”
Since the Wisconsin Optometric Association endorsed Optometry Giving Sight in 2005, Wisconsin ODs have raised thousands of dollars for the cause.
According to WOA Executive Director Peter Theo, “We believe it is imperative for our membership – those who give sight on a daily basis – to share their good fortune with those in underserved communities.”
Wisconsin optometrist Victor Connors, OD, is the U.S. chair of Optometry Giving Sight. His practice, Isthmus Eye Care, is supporting the World Sight Day Challenge by donating exam fees and rallying the support of patients and the community.
“Our community continues to show compassion through contributions that make a difference in a stranger’s life on the other side of the world – effectively offering hope to someone living a life of poverty and despair,” Dr. Connors said. “Witnessing the wonder in a patient’s first moments of vision through corrective lenses after being unable to see their world touches your heart. Our passion for caring about eye health and vision is meant not just for our local community, but for all mankind.”
Just $5 can provide an eye exam and a pair of glasses in many developing countries. Through the generosity of its corporate sponsors, Optometry Giving Sight guarantees that 85% of all funds raised by optometrists and their patients goes directly to programs that give sight to those in need.
For more information about Optometry Giving Sight and the World Sight Day Challenge visit www.givingsight.org. For more information about the Wisconsin Optometric Association, visit www.woa-eyes.org.
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