Dr. Bruce Johnson and Dr. Lorrie Oliver from Drs. Johnson, Oliver and Martin - Optometrists have responded to a challenge to all Canadian optometrists. On October 11 - World Sight Day - they will be donating all of the fees from their eye exams to help the estimated 13 million children who are blind or vision impaired simply because they do not have access to an eye exam and a pair of glasses.

"As both a parent and an eye health professional I am delighted to have the opportunity to support an organization that is providing funds for eye health for children in countries where these services just don't exist. My experiences in St. Maarten and Nepal providing vision and eye health exams impressed me with how fortunate we are to live in a country where we have easy access to modern eye and health care. For a large percentage of the world's population these services are unavailable due to a lack of skilled providers."

"We will be donating our fees from all eye exams conducted on World Sight Day and we will be asking our staff and patients to consider a donation as well."

Drs. Johnson, Oliver and Martin have been supporting Optometry Giving Sight for the past year, the kickoff being World Sight Day 2006. Thanks to the enthusiasm of staff and patients for this project, they have donated over $3,700.00 in the past year, and are looking forward to surpassing that number in the coming year.

According to Dr. Johnson it costs just five dollars to provide an eye exam, a pair of glasses and residual training for local staff in many developing countries that lack eye care services. This alone could be enough to save someone from a life condemned to impaired vision - where children can't learn, adults can't work and the elderly lose their dignity and independence.

Dr. Johnson cited the example of children in east Africa who were being educated in schools for the blind - when all they needed was an eye exam and a pair of glasses to see clearly. As a result, some spent years in each grade because they were unable to see the blackboard. Thanks to the support of optometrists from around the world, some of these children had now successfully completed their schooling and were studying to become accountants, engineers - and even optometrists!

Further information about Optometry Giving Sight is available at www.givingsight.org

Please call Nicole at Drs. Johnson, Oliver and Martin for more details or information.