Companies Raise Funds and Awareness for WSD Challenge By Staff Wednesday, November 21, 2012 12:40 PM RELATED CONTENT Optical Industry Joins Forces to Take Up World Sight Day Challenge NEW YORK—As part of the World Sight Day Challenge, the optical industry joined forces with 15 companies hosting workplace fundraising activities, with many companies reporting that these events built social responsibility and goodwill within their respective corporate cultures. Following is a brief summary of company events surrounding the WSD month-long initiative. CooperVision staff in Puerto Rico manufacturing facility. CooperVision staff in the U.S., Puerto Rico, U.K. and other global offices encouraged to buy a bracelet and participate in staff fundraising events. The company hoped to raise $20,000 from staff which CooperVision will match. “Optometry Giving Sight is a global charity that we believe is having a substantial impact on the delivery of sustainable eye care services in underserved communities throughout the world,” said John Weber, president of CooperVision, Inc. “We salute the tireless work of Optometry Giving Sight and are honored to further its worthy cause.” REM Eyewear staff double the impact with matching gifts from the company for their sweet sale. REM employees reported that they had a lot of fun raising money for the Challenge in October. Activities included a bake sale, a company lunch, and a raffle. To sweeten the deal, the company is matching employee donations, so every sweet sold, doubles the impact. REM chief operating officer Donna Gindy said, “At REM, our mission is to provide quality eyewear to individuals across the globe so donating funds to the World Sight Day Challenge is only natural. Everyone deserves the chance to see and REM Eyewear is happy to do whatever we can to make that dream a reality.” Slack Inc. employee’s raised funds by holding a very successful “Loaded Baked Potato Bar” as well as participating in Dress Down-Jeans Day on World Sight Day. The employees raised $700. Slack will kick in an additional $300 to round up to a $1,000 donation. This was their fifth year to participate in the Challenge! Friends & Family Fitting Day at A&A Optical, Dallas, Texas. A&A Optical kicked off a month of activities with a Jalapenos case design contest, ‘Cases for a Cause’ as well as an ‘Eye’m Inspired, Create your own Eye Art’ contest. In addition, they hosted a Friends & Family Fitting Day in their company office and invited patients to donate to Optometry Giving Sight by purchasing raffle tickets or grab bags. TLC Laser Vision Centers is donating $5 for every completed consultation between June and October. Patient donation displays were distributed to nearly 50 locations with staff encouraging their patients to ‘match’ the corporate donation. TLC has pledged $25,000 as a silver level sponsor. Stacy Robinson and Robin Sear from Alcon Foundation, along with the Everman School Bulldog mascot help screen children on World Sight Day. Alcon made a donation for every child screened through "Kids Sight for Life" program in schools in the Dallas/Fort Worth areas on World Sight Day. Every child screened on the day was partnered with a child from a school in El Salvador with letters and photos exchanged celebrating the fact that they could now see clearly. The lively PEN crew encouraged all their PEN practices to take the WSD Challenge. Primary Eyecare Network (PEN) did a Crepe Breakfast Event as well as a Yogurtland event to raise funds in support of the World Sight Day Challenge. What a lively bunch, unified around a common goal to give sight and enjoy yogurt treats at the same time! For the third year running, Optos made a donation for every Optomap taken on World Sight Day.
