October is World Sight Month, and October 10, 2024, is World Sight Day! For every pair of lenses sold on October 10, 2024, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Optometry Giving Sight. Eye Etiquette cares about our communities worldwide without access to quality eye care. Belmont Market and Millstream Village Eye Etiquette locations will participate in the World Sight Day Challenge throughout October.
This year marks 18 years of the World Sight Day Challenge Optometry Giving Sight’s (OGS) largest annual fundraising campaign! World Sight Day aims to reduce avoidable blindness by providing an eye exam and glasses. This year’s theme is “Giving Together, Seeing Forever,” celebrating the collective power of the optometry community to help give the gift of sight to millions of families and individuals in need. Eye Etiquette is joining in the effort by collecting donations for eyewear cleaning and giving out wristbands for all donations collected in October!
Marie’s Optometry Giving Sight Story
2024’s World Sight Day Challenge will help raise funds for people like Miss Marie. A seamstress, she had made her living by sewing clothes and household items for her neighbors in a remote town in Chihuahua, Mexico. Her vision began to fail as she approached 40. First, her distance vision faltered. Then, her near vision deteriorated. She could no longer do her life’s work, so Marie began to rely on her children for support. This was a devastating blow for Marie, who had prided herself on her independence and contributions to her community.
During a free mobile vision clinic made possible in part by a grant from Optometry Giving Sight, optometrists from the Guerrero Crystal Foundation were able to identify her vision issues and provide her with free eyeglasses – one pair for reading and one pair for distance. She broke down in tears when she donned her reading glasses for the first time and looked at the reading card she was given. It was the first time in almost 17 years that she could see up close. For Miss Marie and others, a gift to OGS can bring the gift of sight.