Sponsorship
Sharing resources and information with active organisations engaged in improving visual health worldwide.OPTOMETRY GIVING SIGNT
Optometry Giving Sight was established in 2003 to address the needs of more than 670 million men, women and children around the world who are blind or visually impaired simply because they don’t have access to an eye exam and a pair of glasses. Why? Because in some countries there are not enough trained eye care personnel and there is no infrastructure to support these desperately needed eye care services.
Optometry Giving Sight is a global fundraising campaign reaching out to more than 200,000 Optometrists around the world, and their nearly 325 million patients, to fund the solution.
Optometry Giving Sight is a joint initiative of the World Optometry Foundation (WOF), the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and supports the goals of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, an initiative of IAPB and the World Health Organization (WHO). VISION 2020 aims to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020, in order to give all people in the world the right to sight.
How funds are distributed
Optometry Giving Sight raises funds that go directly to projects around the world that ensure sustainable, lasting results in three ways:
- Eye care service delivery: exams, low-cost eye glasses and low-vision devices;
- Human Resources: training of Optometrists, eye care personnel and their teachers;
- Infrastructure development: establishment and support of eye clinics and schools of optometry.
Optometry Giving Sight currently funds 3 in-kind sponsor priority projects in long term primary eye care:
- Giving Sight to Blind Children in East Africa
- The National Refractive Error Program of South Africa
- Vision Care Service Development in Sri Lanka.
As funds expand over time, other sustainable refractive error projects will be eligible to apply for funding, including those of Canadian mission charities.
As a National Gold In-Sponsor, Optometric Services Inc will encourage its members, suppliers and staff to also support Optometry Giving Sight, the international charity of choice of the Canadian Association of Optometrists and now the charity of choice of OSI.
As Marcel Brin, President and CEO of OSI states, “We are pleased to partner with Optometry Giving Sight. We are making this initiative the main focus of our charitable efforts at the international level. As the largest network of clinic-owning Optometrists in Canada, we believe that OSI's 710 clinics and over 1,400 Optometrists can make a real difference in supporting Optometry Giving Sight raise the financial resources needed to help millions of people around the world see better.”
For more information and/or to make a donation, visit www.givingsight.org.
The Thought of Holiday Shopping Getting you Down?
Why not give a Gift of Vision™ this Holiday Season?
The Optometry Giving Sight Gift of Vision™ online catalogue contains exciting ways to provide a gift that lasts a lifetime! No more waiting in lines or searching for parking spaces - the Gift of Vision™ makes holiday shopping as easy as ABC. Make a donation in lieu of a present with a Gift of Vision™
- Go online and choose your donation gift.
- Your friend, relative or colleague receives a personalized card and information about your gift.
- The proceeds of your Gift of Vision donation will provide people living without eye care with one of the most treasured gifts of all – the gift of vision.
- All purchasers of a Gift of Vision will receive a tax receipt for the gift amount.
Gifts start at just $25 which will provide an eye exam and glasses for 5 people. Check the full range of gifts at www.givingsight.org/giftofvision.
OPTOMETRIC SERVICES INC. (OSI) BECOMES A SILVER PARTNER OF THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF OPTOMETRISTS (CAO).
Optometric Services Inc. (OSI) is proud to announce its support of the Eye Health Council of Canada, the national public education division of the Canadian Association of Optometrists, as a Silver Partner.
This partnership makes it possible for OSI to support the CAO's initiatives in promoting the availability and accessibility of vision care to the Canadian population. Thanks to CAO's communications events, such as Eye Health Canada Month (in October), Canada's population is educated on the importance of vision health care and having regular eye exams performed by an Optometrist.
According to Marcel Brin, President of Optometric Services Inc. (OSI), this new partnership fits in with our mission of generating value for Optometrists. By supporting the CAO with its initiatives, we are ensuring that the Canadian population increases its awareness of the importance of eye exams and the need for complete eye exams on a regular basis. Since our founding in 1983, we have been committed to consistently helping our 1,500 Optometrist-members to provide services of unsurpassed quality. We firmly believe that our partnership with the CAO will enable both organizations to continue the pursuit of vision excellence for all Canadians.
About the CAO
The CAO is the professional association that represents Doctors of Optometry in Canada, as well as the national federation of ten provincial associations of Optometrists. The Association represents over 3,200 members across Canada.
To learn more about the Canadian Association of Optometrists, visit their Web site www.opto.ca.