A wonderful milestone has been reached today as the VSP Eye Pledge campaign soared past the 25,000 pledge mark. As of this evening, over 25,800 free eye exams and glasses are being donated to Boys & Girls Club members in-need! And, although we are halfway to the original 50,000 pledge goal we still need your help. Take the free VSP Eye Pledge NOW and VSP will donate an eye exam and glasses on your behalf! Watch this video to learn how your pledge makes a difference, and take the free Eye Pledge now!
Posts Tagged ‘charitable eyecare’
Over 25,000 Eye Pledges taken … and halfway to our goal!
Posted on October 28th, 2011 by AlexA day of giving back with Dr. Oz
Posted on October 23rd, 2011 by Jill N
VSP employees with Dr. Oz after closing down a record breaking day of 455 patients being seen in the vision area in one day.
In one of the largest outreach events that VSP has participated in to date, we had the incredible opportunity to work for a day alongside Dr. Oz, two-time Daytime Emmy® Award-winning host of the Daytime Emmy® Award-winning “The Dr. Oz Show”, and vice-chair and professor of surgery at Columbia University (that’s a mouthful isn’t it?).
He arrived on the second day of the clinic to meet with the volunteers, thanking them for their commitment to give back to those who need it most, to consult with the medical, dental and vision care professionals as they donated their time and services and to provide medical advice and guidance to a number of patients who were being seen.
One of those patients, David, was identified when he walked up to the VSP educational table in front of our mobile eye clinic. He told us he was drawn to the table because of an image that was displayed that simulated how a person with diabetic retinopathy would see. He was terrified that the blurriness he was experiencing was, in fact, due to diabetic retinopathy. As a 22-year-old Hispanic male with Type 2 diabetes and a family history of diabetes-related health issues, he had come to the clinic to try to be proactive about his health for his wife and two baby girls. However, he had never received an eye exam in his life and had no idea that he could lose his sight from the disease.
With his eyes extremely red and knowing he was experiencing blurriness, we immediately referred him to the vision area for care where optometry students from Southern California College of Optometry and VSP doctors were awaiting him. After moving through the various stations, David ultimately ended up with VSP doctor, and lead eyecare practitioner for CareNow, John Nishimoto, O.D. After consulting with David and learning more about both his personal and family history, Dr. Nishimoto made an initial check of his eye health. At that point, he didn’t see an obvious sign of diabetic retinopathy, but did see something that didn’t appear normal. At this point, Dr. Oz joined him to learn about David and and his situation. Dr. Nishimoto made the decision to take David onto the VSP mobile eye clinic for a more thorough examination where Dr. Oz joined them. I’m going to do something horrible and leave you here…with a bit of a cliffhanger. The reason why? David’s story will be told on the Dr. Oz show and we really want you to watch! His story is a great example of not only what can be detected in an annual eye exam, but also why regular eyecare is an important part of a person’s healthcare routine.
We’ll keep you posted on when to tune in to the Dr. Oz show (we are still confirming the exact date) to see the whole experience. But in the meantime, check out some of the behind the scenes pictures we captured here.
And to Dr. Oz? It was a pleasure and we say thank you for helping to bring to the national spotlight some of the personal stories and needs of the more than 725,000 people VSP has had the opportunity to impact through our charitable programs. We hope this will encourage even more people and organizations to give back while also serving to educate everyone about the importance of taking advantage of, and utilizing, the channels they have available to them to take care of themselves.
Dr. Drew’s Life Changers: You can be one!
Posted on October 14th, 2011 by Jill NYesterday, on the new Dr. Drew’s Life Changers show, he featured a mother who has been unable to afford to fix or buy new glasses for her children. She was having to make the gut-wrenching decision between paying bills and putting food on the table versus enabling her children to see. This was a segment near and dear to our hearts and a clear example of why the VSP Eye Pledge campaign is so important.
You can be a life changer!
If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to take the free Eye Pledge and help direct a free eye exam and glasses, donated by VSP Vision Care on your behalf, to a Boys and Girls Club child in need in your local community. Then please share and encourage others to join us in helping to remove the need for 50,000 children and their parents to make a decision between sight and other family essentials.
Update: VSP Eye Pledge Provides the Gift of Sight to 10,000 Children
Posted on October 5th, 2011 by Jill N
More than 10,000 children have received the gift of sight, help us reach 40,000 more!
Several weeks ago, VSP® Vision Care and Boys & Girls Club of America announced the free VSP Eye Pledge campaign to provide 50,000 Boys & Girls Club members in need with access to free eye exams and glasses worth more than $19 million. We recently hit the 10,000 mark! This means that 10,000 kids across the country will now perform better in and out of school due to their free eye exams and glasses. With 10,000 down, we have 40,000 more to go!
Readers like you can help by simply going to www.seemuchmore.com/eyepledge! You can choose to donate a free exam and glasses to your local club or the club with the most the need.
The VSP Eye Pledge is completely free and is as simple as these steps:
- Go to www.seemuchmore.com/eyepledge
- Pledge to take care of your eye health, which is an integral part of your overall health
- Direct the donation to either the local club of your choice (by inserting your zip code) or the club in the U.S. with the most need
- Share with your friends and family to help impact even more children in need in your community
Check out this clip to see how your support of the VSP Eye Pledge has already made a positive impact in two children’s lives.
VSP Eye Pledge sets its sights on 50,000 at-risk youth across America
Posted on August 17th, 2011 by Jill NOne of the most important exams in a students’ school year isn’t administered in the classroom, but rather in the optometrist’s office. For millions of children around the U.S., vision problems that go undetected, and a lack of access to eye exams and glasses, make learning a challenge. To provide children in need with quality eyecare, VSP Vision Care is partnering with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to launch the VSP Eye Pledge, an online eye health awareness campaign. For every Pledge received VSP will donate a free eye exam and glasses to up to 50,000 Boys & Girls Club kids in need around the country, valued at more than $19 million!
1 Eye Pledge = 1 VSP Gift Certificate for a Child in need
Go to SeeMuchMore.com and take the Eye Pledge in just three easy steps:
- Select the Eye Pledge that’s right for you
- Direct a free VSP eye exam and glasses gift certificate a Boys & Girls Club of your choice
- Share your pledge to help spread the word and help us reach our goal!
Check out this video featuring BGCA discussing the importance of the campaign and the impact it will have to help children reach their full potential.
For more information about the VSP Eye Pledge campaign and to take the pledge, please visit www.SeeMuchMore.com. The site also includes an interactive, virtual savings calculator to learn about savings with VSP vision benefits, allows users to browse the latest eyewear styles, and provides helpful information about healthy vision.
Bringing hope to the eyes of Dominica Part 3
Posted on January 20th, 2011 by Niki M.
Niki M. is a VSP Mobile Clinic Operations Manager.
The latest from Niki:
Today was even busier than yesterday! Kim and I are really getting the hang of working the dispensary. I have learned more about prescriptions than I ever thought I would! Our group split again, so collectively we saw nearly 500 patients in 5 hours. We have 4-5 optometrists and 5-6 optometry students in each group, so as you can imagine, they are keeping us moving.
I dispensed glasses to an older lady today that hadn’t been able to afford glasses in years. When I put her in new glasses and asked how the reading card looked, she said very humbly and sweetly, “Wow, I can clearly see all the pretty words again.” Some of the towns in Dominica we are visiting are very, very poor, with some living in one bedroom shacks without bathrooms and only enough electricity to power a few small items in the kitchen (if at all). In conditions like this, survival becomes more important than some of the “luxuries” (like clear vision) that most people in the US take for granted.
With our Mobile Eyes program, we offer patients great Marchon and Altair frames for free. With this program, patients must pay the local Rotary, which VOSH partners with on these missions, $25 for whatever random reused glasses they have in stock. The patients in Dominica are so grateful, and accept without complaint some of the second-hand older frames we have to distribute.
Tomorrow is expected to be our busiest day. We will be in Roseau, the capital and one of the more populated areas, and also where our hotel is located. Our whole team will be together with the goal of seeing over 800 patients!
Our time is flying by so fast!
Kim’s notes from day two:
We split the group in two today and collectively we saw over 400 patients. Niki and I are really comfortable with the flow and dispensing. We have adapted to VOSH’s seventeen years of experience and they are a well oiled machine. We coined a new term today: we are “vosh-ticians.”
This group is amazing and have made us feel so welcome and a part of the team.
Notes from the first day of the clinic:
We arrived safely in Dominica and have been enjoying getting to know our team of 35 and the locals. We spent Sunday at a local church with the crew and had the honor of meeting the country’s president! They fed us delicious local food.
Today was our first clinic day. After an hour and a half crazy bus ride in the monsoon rains, we saw nearly 200 patients, who were already lined up and waiting well before we arrived. There are tons of boxes and supplies to lug in and out each day, so in addition to our duties in the dispensary, they’re keeping us very busy.
The Ferris State optometry students VSP sponsored are very grateful for VSP’s assistance. Stay tuned for our next update and follow our tweets @VSPVisionCare
Bringing hope to the eyes of Dominica Part 1 and Part 2
From the Road: Helping out in Woodstock, GA
Posted on November 12th, 2010 by Liz B.
Stuart Tasman, O.D. is a VSP Provider in Kennesaw, GA.
Today’s guest blog post is from Stuart Tasman O.D, a VSP provider in Georgia who recently partnered with the VSP at the Woodstock Baptist Church Health Fair.
I was asked to participate in a health fair in October at the Woodstock Baptist Church. As I walked through this massive church I couldn’t believe the amount of people that were there for services. I would estimate that well over 1000 men, women and children were there to see the doctors and volunteers that were there for 3 days to treat their every need.
I heard from the people that I examined, they had arrived at 1 a.m. to get in line to see the medical doctors, dentists and eye doctors. I know for a fact that we turned people away at the end of every day due to lack of time.* I saw so much eye disease that had gone untreated due to lack of insurance and, of course money.
Later, at the office we treated one of the gentlemen that I had seen at the event for glaucoma. His intraocular pressures were approximately 40 in his right eye with definite loss of field of vision. I prescribed Lumigan and instructed him in my broken Spanish to see me in 3 weeks. He has no insurance and his finances barely cover a roof over his head and put groceries on the table. Suffice it to say we will not charge him but I have been haunted by the amount of people in trouble out there.
Who is going to care for them? We all want to give back and be good stewards but do we draw a line? When do we draw a line?
My father told us many stories of the depression era and one that I have never forgotten was about his grandfather. He had very little money, but did run a small grocery store. People would come in to get food with no money. My dad asked him “How come you give food to these people without money?”
He responded, ” We should always give to those with less than we have.”
My question to you is should we follow my great grandfathers advise? Just a thought.
Stuart Tasman
*Editor’s note: All patients who were unable to be seen – more than 350 – were given gift certificates to visit a local VSP doctor or referred to the Georgia Lighthouse Lions for comprehensive eyecare services, including eyewear.
Eye On Diabetes – Austin, Texas
Posted on September 2nd, 2010 by jeffstThe VSP Eye on Diabetes campaign has wrapped up another successful event in Austin, TX on Friday August 27, 2010. VSP Vision Care has partnered with the American Diabetes Association and the Texas Optometric Association to raise awareness for the connection between eye health and diabetes for the state of Texas. SeeZar, one of three VSP Mobile Clinics, helped over 100 Austin residents in need with free eyecare, eyewear and diabetes screenings. State Representative Mark Strama showed his support for the campaign and the important role Optometrists play in the detection and treatment of health issues, including diabetes. The Austin event was the third stop in the Eye on Diabetes campaign, reaching a statewide audience.
Below is a photo of VSP Provider Dr. Everett Hyman from Houstin, TX volunteering his time to help out during the Eye on Diabetes campaign in Austin. To see more photos of the event, click here.
Eyenstein Featured with Bess the Book Bus in Philly
Posted on August 20th, 2010 by Jill N
Jill N. is a member of the VSP Global Public Relations team.
Our newest mobile clinic, Eyenstein, was featured last week on CBS 3 in Philadelphia with his friend, Bess the Book Bus, regarding outreach we did with local Girls and Boys Clubs in the area. Check out Dr. Berman and Bess founder, Jennifer, as they talk about the importance of eyesight and getting kids excited about reading!
Filling a Void in Omaha
Posted on July 21st, 2010 by Jill NTresa D. is a Mobile Response Team member who volunteered her time in Nebraska last week. Below is an account of her experience:
I’m traveling on the road once again with the VSP Mobile Eyes Clinic. The first stop of our trip was to Omaha, NE to provide free comprehensive eye exams and glasses to the clients of the Lydia House. The Lydia House is a Mission who serves their community by providing basic living needs for the homeless and families living in poverty.
In talking with Candace Gregory, President of the Lydia House, she said that a large portion of their population is in need of vision assistance. Illiteracy is not the problem in many cases; it’s that people are simply unable to see to do simple tasks like filling out a job application, reading simple instructions, etc. I am very proud to be part of the VSP Mobile Eyes team. Through our program, we were able to partner with the Lydia House to fill that void.
The first evening, the Mobile Eyes Team gathered around the TV to watch the news coverage of our first day’s event. I must confess that I was excited to see myself on the news. During the filming, I was auto-refracting a patient who was in need of new glasses. It struck me as odd that the news showed me, but they did not show what I was doing. In reflecting, I realize it was because the woman I was working with was shy with the cameras. She did not want to be filmed. She shared with me that no one knew she was at the shelter. She did not want her family or friends to know that she was there. She found herself down and out, but was too proud to ask for help. She came to the Mission to get the help she needed to reclaim her life. I was touched by her story and her journey to reclaim her life. I feel privileged to have been part of helping her. It makes me very proud that she is just one of the more than 27,500 people whose lives have been helped by the VSP Mobile Eyes program.
