DENVER—Global eye health and vision care are more important than ever in light of recent natural disasters including major hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis and their aftermath. As people deal with these and other health crises, leading North American optometric companies, networks, schools and practices are once again joining a coalition led by Optometry Giving Sight in support of World Sight Day (October 12, 2017) and the World Sight Day Challenge, which runs through October, according to an announcement from Optometry Giving Sight.

This is the 11th 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. These include support for projects that will help give sight and hope to more than 1 million children as part of the Our Children’s Vision campaign—and this year, in recognition of recent events, projects providing eyecare to people affected by the hurricanes in our region, Optometry Giving Sight said.

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

Another 45 companies are participating in the Challenge plus 21 Schools of Optometry. More companies, networks and practices are signing up every day.

WSDC Coalition members have a range of activities planned to raise awareness of the importance of eye health and to provide eyecare and eyewear to people in need, including these initiatives.

ABB Optical Group is running a campaign for its customers and will donate a portion of all Digital Eye Lab sales for the month of October in support of World Sight Day. Their staff will also participate in a variety of World Sight Day awareness activities.

Alcon Foundation is running its Cycle for Sight 20/20 Challenge. Reaching their goal of 2,020 Alcon participants across their sites will trigger a $25,000 donation to Optometry Giving Sight. Many sites, including Australia, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S., are ready to ride.

AllAboutVision will be conducting the week-long #ShareForSight social media campaign to promote eye health and Optometry Giving Sight. Each social media share supports the World Sight Day Challenge.

Bausch + Lomb will, for the second consecutive year, will hold an all employee meeting to demonstrate the positive impact of partnering and supporting Optometry Giving Sight while encouraging participation in various fundraising opportunities. Additionally, the company will join the Optometry Giving Sight Twitter chat and post on its own social media channels throughout the month to help raise awareness of the importance of eye health in people’s lives.

CooperVision, a Global Gold Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight, is organizing its sixth consecutive Fight for Sight campaign with participation from employees across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. A variety of inventive, employee-led fundraisers held over three months range from cycling relays to themed food events, paired with eye health education and social media outreach. With a generous matching gift commitment from The Cooper Companies, the campaign’s annual contribution is fast approaching $200,000.

Essilor will launch #PutVisionFirst on World Sight Day as it continues to deliver on its mission of improving lives by improving sight. With this global campaign, the company aims to create awareness about the importance of good vision and the need to get regular comprehensive eye exams from eyecare professionals. Essilor will donate $1 toward helping a child see clearly for every person who visits the dedicated website and pledges to get an eye exam.

Essilor of America is partnering with the Essilor Vision Foundation (EVF) for the second annual Kids Vision Fest on Oct. 5, 2017 at its Dallas headquarters. More than 400 students will be bused in to receive vision exams and glasses. Essilor employees and local ODs will be volunteering throughout the day. Students will receive their glasses on World Sight Day 2017.

EyePromise will engage in multiple fundraising activities in September and October including employee initiatives and product promotions. They will also make a donation to Optometry Giving Sight on behalf of the Arizona Fall League’s 2017 batting champion during the award presentation.

All FYidoctors and Visique clinics alongside Vision Source clinics in Canada will undertake local and corporate fundraising initiatives throughout October. FYidoctors “$1 dollar for every like” campaign begins Oct.1 on Facebook and Twitter and has received huge success in previous years raising over $35,000 for the World Sight Day Challenge. FYidoctors matches every dollar donated by their doctors, supports fundraising at the clinic level and campaigns the entire month on social media.

Vision Source will raise funds for World Sight Day through donations from over 3,350 member practices nationwide. In addition, employees at the Vision Source Member Support Center are raising funds through team challenges and sales of merchandise from VisionSourceGear.com. Fifty percent of the proceeds from World Sight Day branded products will be donated to Optometry Giving Sight from now until Oct. 31, 2017. By participating in the Optometry Giving Sight Twitter Chat, Vision Source will highlight the importance of having access to eyecare worldwide while encouraging donations.

VSP Global is raising funds globally and promoting awareness nationally in support of the World Sight Day Challenge. Employees are rallying around the world to fundraise for Hurricane Harvey eyecare relief efforts and Our Children’s Vision through a variety of activities, including a vendor fair and individual contributions. The World Sight Day Twitter chat with Optometry Giving Sight and other coalition partners will be hosted on @VSPVisionCare, encouraging a conversation around eye health and wellness and ways to take part in fundraising efforts.

Zeiss Better Vision will raise funds for World Sight Day through T-shirt sales in all its US offices and lab locations, and will also conduct a week-long social media campaign to its 50,000 followers to raise awareness and spur action in the fight against preventable blindness.

WSDC Coalition members will also lead a Twitterchat on Oct. 12 (World Sight Day) from 12 – 1pm Eastern time. Parents, eyecare and industry professionals are invited to participate in the chat by following and using the hashtag #shareforsight.

Other companies who are supporting the Challenge include: A&A Optical, Acuity Pro Software, Advance Optical, Allergan, Amcon, Boore Family Foundation, Charmant USA, ClearVision, DAC Vision, De Rigo REM, Edison Optics, Europa Eyewear, Gateway Professional Network, Glimpse Live, Good-Lite Co., Heidelberg Engineering, Icare USA, Jobson Optical Group, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Canada), Konan USA, Liberty Sport, Macuhealth, Modern Optical International, MODO, Morel Eyewear, Nordic Naturals, Oasis Medical, Oculus Inc. USA, OptiSource International, Optos, Pentavision LLC, PCON / Slack Incorporated, Ron's Optical, RX Optical, Signet Armorlite Inc., Synergeyes Inc., TearScience Inc., Vision One Credit Union, Vmax Vision, Wave Contact Lens System LLC, WestGroupe, Wiley X Eyewear, Younger Optics and Zyloware. Eye Recommend and OSI in Canada are also adding their support.

“It is a privilege to lead this industry based coalition in support of the 11th annual World Sight Day Challenge in North America,” said Clive Miller, CEO of Optometry Giving Sight. “We encourage all eye and vision care companies, networks, schools, and practices to take the Challenge by fundraising throughout October, making a personal donation, involving friends, colleagues, staff and patients via our peer to peer fundraising pages, and / or by purchasing T-shirts.

“If everyone does just one thing in support of the Challenge we can make a huge difference in the lives of millions,” Miller said.

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