DENVER—Leading North American optometric companies, networks, schools and practices will once again join forces in a coalition led by Optometry Giving Sight in support of World Sight Day on October 13 and the World Sight Day Challenge, which runs throughout September and October, an announcement from Optometry Giving Sight said.

Clive Miller, CEO of Optometry Giving Sight said, “This is the 10th year of the Challenge, which encourages all members of the vision care community to make a donation or participate in a fundraising event to help fund sustainable eye health projects for people who are needlessly blind or vision impaired. This year will have a specific focus on the need for effective, sustainable eye health initiatives for children and adolescents as part of the Our Children’s Vision campaign.

Coalition members include ABB Optical Group, Alcon Foundation, AllAboutVision.com, Bausch + Lomb, CooperVision, Essilor, EyePromise, FYidoctors, Vision Source, VOSH International and VSP Global.

More than 60 companies are engaging their staff in donation drives and fundraising activities, as a way of raising awareness among their own employees about the importance of good vision. They include A&A Optical, Acuity Pro, Advance Optical, Allergan, Amcon, Art Optical, Bard Optical, ClearVision, DAC Vision, De Rigo REM, Europa, Eye Recommend, GPLI/CLMA, Heidelburg, Hilco, Jobson, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Canada), Linden Optometry, Match Eyewear, Modo, Nikon/Elaine Turner, Optos, OSI, PECAA, Primary Care Optometry Magazine/Slack Inc., Reptile Sun, Ron's Optical, RX Optical, Signet Armorlite, Synergeyes, Texas State Optical, Tura, Vision One Credit Union, VmaxVision, Wave Contact Lens, WestGroupe, White Ophthalmic Supply Ltd, Wiley X, and Zeiss (Canada), all of whom are participating in the Challenge in some way.

More companies, networks and practices are signing up every day. Thousands of optometrists, their practices and staff, students of optometry, and members of industry are raising funds or making donations to give sight and hope to people who are blind or vision impaired simply because they can’t access the services of a qualified optometrist.

This year, for the first time, all 24 Schools of Optometry in North America will participate in the Challenge, reinforcing the strong connection that exists with the nine Schools of Optometry in Latin America, Asia and Africa that are funded in part by Optometry Giving Sight, and which are currently educating 700 future optometrists and optometric technicians.

Highlights include the University of Houston College of Optometry’s Talent Show and the annual Dining in the Dark event that is coordinated by the University of Waterloo in Canada. More information is available on the Students for Sight Facebook page.

“We are excited to be leading this industry based coalition in support of the 10th Anniversary of the World Sight Day Challenge in North America,” said Miller. “We are grateful for the support that we receive and encourage all eye and vision care companies, networks, schools and practices to take the Challenge and make a donation so that we can help end avoidable blindness and give sight and hope to the millions of people—including children and adolescents—in need.”

A highlight of this year’s campaign will be a Twitter Chat that is being coordinated by AllAboutVision.com as part of its week-long “Share for Sight” social media campaign to promote the importance of child eye health and projects funded by Optometry Giving Sight. The chat will run from 9 to 10 am PST on Thursday Oct. 13. Click here to view the stream, answer questions, retweet and reply. All tweets must include #ShareForSight in order to post correctly in the chat stream.

WSDC Coalition members have a range of activities planned to raise awareness about the importance of eye health and to provide eyecare and eyewear to people in need. An increasing number of companies are involving their colleagues and associates throughout the world, reflecting the global nature of the campaign. To find out what some of these companies have planned for World Sight Day, click here.

For an example of how funds from Optometry Giving Sight can be used, watch this video about the first class of optometry students who graduated from the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua.

For more information about the World Sight Day Challenge, or to make your donation today, please visit givingsight.org or call +1 888 OGS GIVE (USA) / +1 403-670-2619 (Canada).