Today’s post comes from Sharon Hemphill, senior director of health and life skills with Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Every 25 seconds another student gives up on school, resulting in more than 1.3 million American high school students who drop out every year.  The numbers sound daunting, but there is hope.  Schools, parents, communities and individuals working together can address the challenges that seem to put success out of reach for so many people.

Community organizations, like Boys & Girls Clubs of America, help bridge the gap between school and home.  Clubs help parents and teachers by providing programs and resources to enrich the lives of the youth served. With all the challenges facing young people in their education, vision care is sometimes overlooked, but it is vitally important to a young person’s education.

It’s a very simple connection, really: if a young person can’t see well enough to read a book or see what the teacher is writing on the board, that student will not be engaged and successful in school.  Unfortunately, not every child has the resources or the access to get regular eye exams and receive the care he or she needs. That’s where VSP Vision Care (VSP) has stepped in to help.

Through the VSP Eye Pledge campaign, VSP is donating up to 50,000 free eye exams and glasses to Boys & Girls Club members in need.  For every person who pledges to take care of his or her own vision, VSP will donate a gift certificate for an eye exam and glasses to a young person at a Club – this can either be their local Club, or the Boys & Girls Club that needs it the most.  So, we encourage you to take the free VSP Eye Pledge at SeeMuchMore.com/eyepledge and let others know about this opportunity as well. It’s a great, free way to give back to your community and kids in need all around the country.

Together, we can put every child on the path to a great future.

Keratoconus causes the cornea, which is usually bowl-shaped, to become conical. Normally, for cases caught early on, rigid contact lenses are used for treatment, but this case was too advanced: “…it was kind of like trying to put a plate on a peak. They just kind of wobbled, and didn’t fit.”

My goodness. I supposed there’s one benefit to being a relative old-timer. According to the article, “experts suggest that if you’re a teen or 20-something whose vision is changing so quickly that you find you need to switch the prescription of your glasses or contacts every few months, check with your doctor. You may need to have the shape of your eyes examined.”

So, if you fall into the age category, or have a loved one that does, please make sure vision care is top-of-mind.

Listen to the entire radio piece and accompanying article on npr.org.

Click here to view the embedded video.