Bard Optical Gives Gift of Vision To People In Need

Bard Optical is taking the World Sight Day Challenge to help give sight to people in developing countries. On World Sight Day, Thursday, October 14, 2010 Bard Optical will make a donation to help provide eye exams and glasses to children in developing countries who can’t see well enough to learn at school, as well as adults who don’t see well enough to provide for their families.

Optometry Giving Sight, the organizer of the World Sight Day Challenge, funds programs that: 1) provide eye exams and glasses, 2) trains local eye care professionals, and 3) develops vision centers that provide long-term vision care to people in desperate need. There are 670 million people who are blind or vision impaired simply because they don’t have access to an eye examination and glasses.

“I am proud to support such a worthwhile cause,” said Diana Hall, President of Bard Optical . “It’s easy to take good vision for granted so taking the World Sight Day Challenge is a great way to raise funds to help people who don’t have access to even basic vision care.”

Ms. Hall was inspired to hear how 9-year-old Nlando’s life was changed by receiving her first pair of glasses, which help her to learn at school. Living in a township in South Africa, where the average family income is just $7 per day, education is the only real opportunity she has to escape the cycle of poverty into which she was born.

By the end of 2010, Optometry Giving Sight aims to have committed $4 million dollars to help provide eye exams and glasses to millions of people in need through sustainable programs. Raised funds are directed to projects in 18 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Just $5 can provide an eye examination and a pair of glasses for someone in a developing country. Bard Optical invites patients to make a donation at your local practice between September 1st and October 14th.

Optometry Giving Sight guarantees that 85% of all funds raised by optometrists and their patients go directly to programs that give sight to those most in need.

Bard Optical has 18 locations in Illinois. Log onto http://www.bardoptical.com/ to find the location nearest you and schedule an appointment.

For more information about Optometry Giving Sight and the World Sight Day Challenge, visit http://www.givingsight.org/ or call 1-888-OGS-GIVE.

About Optometry Giving Sight

Optometry Giving Sight is a joint initiative of the World Optometry Foundation, the International Centre for Eyecare Education and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. National industry sponsors include CIBA VISION, the Brien Holden Vision Institute, Marchon, Vision Source! And AllAboutVision.com. Optometry Giving Sight is a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

About World Sight Day

World Sight Day is an initiative of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight and is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO); the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and non- government organizations with the shared goal of eliminating avoidable blindness by the year 2020, in order to give all people in the world the right to sight. This year, World Sight Day will be held on Thursday October 14, and focuses on VISION 2020’s theme of the countdown to the year 2020.

About the World Sight Day Challenge

The World Sight Day Challenge is a major fundraising campaign coordinated by Optometry Giving Sight which is designed to raise funds for projects that provide vision care, local training and infrastructure support for people who are blind or vision impaired due to uncorrected refractive error – simply the need for an eye exam and a pair of glasses.

Optometrists are invited to participate by:
· Becoming a donor – donate monthly, make a single donation or donate one day of your eye exam fees
· Inviting patients to donate by using our new Giving Poster
· Celebrating World Sight Day in your practice on or around October 14th.

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