This past summer, millions of people, including some of us in optical, were obsessed with taking the ice bucket challenge to raise awareness and much needed funds for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. But on Oct. 9, the optical industry paused and took up a different kind of challenge in support of World Sight Day led by Optometry Giving Sight (OGS).
From our industry’s biggest players to thousands of eyecare practices, retailers and suppliers, many people raised money to help eliminate avoidable blindness caused by uncorrected refractive error. Chiming in with their own global messages were groups like Essilor and their digital campaign #bettersightbetterlife, the OneSight Foundation, Helen Keller International and VisionSpring, among many others.
The numbers surrounding this vision care crisis are numbing and have gotten the attention of many of us working in optical. More than 600 million people globally don’t have access to the eyecare and eyewear they need, according to OGS. And the Vision Impact Institute estimates the indirect cost of vision loss worldwide is a staggering $652 billion.
At press time, the numbers had not yet been tallied but if the buzz on social media is any indication, World Sight Day has come into its own. The social media machine has driven World Sight Day (much like the ice bucket challenge did for ALS) and enhanced the fundraising effort before, during and after the challenge as optical businesses took to Facebook and Twitter streaming video and posting pictures chronicling their efforts to raise money and awareness for eyecare.
Here at Jobson, we hosted a pizza party and held a raffle. Multiply that by thousands of other industry efforts and it really begins to add up. Optical won’t raise $100 million as the ALS ice bucket challenge did, but we still came together on Oct. 9 for a worthy cause and fostered a sense of community in the process. ■
mkane@jobson.com