Essilor Vision Foundation

07/12/2022

People who need vision care but can’t access or afford it can now get free eye exams and glasses thanks to a partnership between Changing Life through Lenses® and Total Vision™.

Total Vision’s charitable initiatives began with their Neighbors Helping Neighbors program to provide free vision care to people in need. The Changing Life Through Lenses platform builds on that effort by removing the cost of the lenses and frames so doctors can serve more people in their communities. By working together through this new partnership, Total Vision practices can make a greater impact on people in need of critical vision care.

The company is donating $50,000 to the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation to support the launch of the program and to help kick-start philanthropic activity in all 49 of Total Vision’s California locations.

Read more about the partnership here:

Program will help practices serve people in need in their communities.

07/06/2022

The team at McPherson Eye Care knows what a difference charitable giving can make in their community and their business!

Their efforts are certainly paying off not just in their practice, but for those who need critical vision care. The practice has raised over $2000 since starting the program last fall. Thanks to their efforts, 107 kids have received a new pair of glasses who would have otherwise gone without.

Marlene Vickrey, Manager at McPherson says "I think the biggest thing for us is family involvement. At McPherson, we're dedicated to involving vision for the whole family. [Participating in See Kids Soar] helps our families know they're getting good care and also that we care! We want to see all kids soar; for all kids to do well, and if we can provide good vision for that, it means a lot."

The practice is looking forward to enrolling in Changing Life Through Lenses to help patients directly in their community!

06/23/2022

Eye doctors - pick any day, any way to give back when you pledge a Changing Life through Lenses® (CLTL) Day.

ODs who want to help patients in need in their communities can do just that by holding a CLTL Day. CLTL Day is not one specific day. It’s any day an eye doctor chooses to give eye exams to people in need and to use Changing Life through Lenses to provide glasses at no cost to the patient or the practice.

Changing Life through Lenses® is a program that allows eye doctors and charities to create an online account for no-cost prescription eyeglasses, a frame collection, and access to resources on charitable engagement.

Thanks to the generosity of EssilorLuxottica, which donates lenses, frames and lab services, the cost to serve is low.

For more information on how to get started, go to evfusa.org/cltl-day.

06/16/2022

School nurse Miranda Gore loves helping her students, but she’s frustrated when those who struggle to see clearly don’t have the glasses they desperately need. “I’ve had students who have failed vision exams several years in a row and were still in need of glasses,” she says.

Miranda was excited after planning a vision clinic with Kids Vision for Life (KVFL) and wanted to be certain her students who failed their vision screening would be able to get an eye exam and glasses. She knows that communicating with parents is key to making sure students who need vision care get it.

KVFL provides free online resources in English and Spanish that school nurses can use to contact parents letting them know when KVFL will be at their school and how to sign up their students for free vision services. “I actually chose to send the notification letter with all info home with every student who failed the vision exam and I emailed parents,” she shares. KVFL launched an online permission slip in the fall of 2020, and Miranda says it increased the number of responses from parents and made it easier for students to get critical vision care.

Miranda agrees that the exams, glasses, and resources KVFL provides are valuable, and she’s a big fan of the program. “I think the program is wonderful! The students were finally able to receive glasses from Kids Vision for Life, enabling them to be much more successful in the classroom.”

06/14/2022

“If I had a superpower, it would be the ability to fly so I can go out of space,” said third-grader Nazarieon as he walked up to the check-in table.

This kid’s charisma and imagination blew us out of this world. Naz took no time warming up to the Kids Vision for Life team. He was so excited to get a pair of glasses and couldn’t wait to tell us all about it. “Even though I’m excited, I’m also worried about getting glasses because I might break them playing outside with my friends since boys are really rough!” he said. We assured him that if he kept them in his case while playing, then they wouldn’t break. “Whew!” he exclaimed as he wiped his forehead. We just knew a pair of glasses would change his life.

Besides having issues seeing the board in the classroom, he told us there was something more important to him that his poor vision was preventing him from being good at—his video games. “When I’m playing my videogames, it’s hard for me to beat the levels because it gets really blurry.”

Naz had a great time getting his vision exam and told us his favorite part of the exam were the pictures because it was really cool. Once he finished his exam and came out to pick his frames, he already knew he wanted red or black. When we asked Naz what he wanted to be when he grew up, he gave us the best response ever, “I want to be both a vet and a scientist, but first I need to get out of 3rd grade because this is the hardest grade of my life!” but then followed with, “Well besides college because you have to actually pick a job.” Laughs erupted all around the mobile clinic and Naz went with a cool pair of black and red frames. The sky is beyond the limit for Nazarieon and every other child who received glasses that day.

There were so many smiles this day and we are so grateful that we are able to provide access to proper vision to those all around the world who need it. Every person we help inspires us more than anyone would ever know.

06/09/2022

Dr. Viviana Gonzalez practices at HHM Health, a federally qualified health facility serving mostly uninsured patients and underserved communities.

“Many of our patients cannot afford to purchase glasses and for most, this is their first eye exam,” she says. Dr. Gonzalez was enrolled in our Changing Life through Lenses (CLTL) program but had not used it very often. The pandemic changed that. In 2021, 166 of her patients got glasses through CLTL. “CLTL has been such a help to our practice and our community because a lot of the patients cannot even see well enough to drive. We have a large population with ocular diseases that I need to dilate their pupils to treat, but if they can't see well enough to drive, I cannot proceed with dilation.”

Dr. Gonzalez’s patients are also benefitting from the program. “CLTL has helped our patients gain autonomy and see the best they have ever seen! Providing them with glasses has enabled me to provide the quality of care that our patients deserve.”

06/02/2022

05/25/2022

Introducing OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation , a milestone in our journey to eliminating uncorrected poor vision in just one generation. Bringing together diverse forces from entities across the world, we continue to create sustainable access through an innovative approach to impact philanthropy, partnerships, and raising awareness.

Watch the video to discover more:

05/19/2022

Hey Teachers! 👋 Guess what?

Our Champions for Sight program launched The Super Reasons to Visit the Eye Doctor kit earlier this year. It is a FREE superhero-themed education kit for your classroom.

This free download comes with lesson plans, an imaginative play kit, take-home activities, the Super Sight Six poster, and access to monthly resources from Champions for Sight™.

This kit is a great way to introduce elements of an eye exam and an eye doctor’s office to students in a fun way. The imaginative play and craft kit includes:

-Eyeglasses and frames to cut out and decorate
-Name tags that students can customize
-Eye chart and an eye exam checklist

Join 6,000+ educators already getting Champions for Sight resources. Get the kit at:

Superhero-themed education kit for teachers and school nurses to use with elementary students. This kit helps prepare students for vision screenings and eye exams while raising awareness about the importance of vision health. The kit is free and comes with imaginative play kit, lesson plans, classro...

05/16/2022

We'd like to take this moment to recognize Triangle Visions Optometry!

Since 2020, Triangle Visions implemented our See Kids Soar® program at all of their locations (“Participating Locations”), which allows them to accept donations at checkout.

Earlier this month, Triangle Visions expanded its charitable efforts by partnering with a local elementary school and using our Changing Life through Lenses (CLTL) program, where they provided glasses to children in need of vision care. "The event was great! We saw 11 patients and the process for the patients that were seen was extremely smooth. All in all, a great first event and we're very excited for many more in the future!" said Caleb Clark.

We believe it takes a community to serve the millions of people in the U.S. who need vision care. Thank you Triangle Visions for raising awareness about the importance of children’s eye health and providing vision care to students in need!

05/12/2022

School nurse Vm Smith needed extra help on the day her students got vision care from Kids Vision for Life (KVFL).

“I called KVFL ahead of time because I had a few special circumstances. I had pre-K kids and I also had some COMM (special education) kids. The team was so gracious to work with me and allowed my COMM teachers to accompany their students to help with their vision appointments,” she shares.

“I know one family was so grateful because they told me they had taken their child to the optometrist and the child just walked out during their exam. They were unable to get glasses for their child without the help of their student’s teachers present. Our COMM students are already under stress being in a different environment like the mobile clinic, so the fact that everyone was so accommodating and put their time and effort into providing this resource for them makes all the difference.”

Vm says getting vision care for students is a group effort. “I want to brag on my sweet, small school and all the teamwork it takes to help our students. The fact that my teachers, principal, health services and the school district worked together to help students get vision care makes me unbelievably proud to be at this school and in this district.”

Thank you, VM Smith for being a champion for your students' vision and getting them the help they need!