Optometry Giving Sight asks patients to ‘give one’ when they ‘buy one’

Through Optometry Giving Sight’s “Seeing Eye to Eye” program, patients can provide people in underserved countries with an eye exam and pair of glasses just as they receive those services in their optometrists’ offices.

According to an Optometry Giving Sight press release, the practice sets a donation of $2 to $5 for each eye exam, frame or eyeglasses purchased, and that donation “funds glasses and sustainable eye care services for young children and people with limited or no access to eye care.”

One optometrist, Jeffrey Krohn, OD, from Fresno, Calif., has participated in the Seeing Eye to Eye program since its inception, according to the press release.

“After we make our prescription recommendation, we say: ‘For every pair of glasses you obtain from us, you’re helping someone overseas see better.’ It’s not just us giving money to someone for them, but because of what they did in our office, they are providing sight to someone else,” Dr. Krohn said in the press release.

Dr. Krohn tells his patients: “When you see better, you provide sight for another.”

Since January 2011, the donations collected in Dr. Krohn’s office have provided sight to the equivalent of 2,000 people in need, according to Optometry Giving Sight.

“If you want to make a difference in the world, you have to go beyond your community, beyond your patient base,” Dr. Krohn said. “With Optometry Giving Sight, you don’t have to leave your office to make a difference in the world, to bring sight to people who don’t have it. As optometrists, it’s what we do every day. Let’s just do it bigger. Let’s do it farther. And let’s do it better.”

Optometry Giving Sight seeks to help the 600 million people around the world who are blind or vision impaired only because they have no access to an eye exam and glasses. For more information, email usa@givingsight.org or call (888) OGS-GIVE. Primary Care Optometry News provides this information as a service to its readers.