There is a way to help children receive eyeglasses without donating a single dime. Instead of money, you have to do something most of you already do daily: take a selfie.
You may notice some familiar faces when you look at the Glazer Vision Foundation’s new Glasses For All Children mural at Armature Works.
“We wanted to create a space and a visual representation of the amazing kids that live in this community,” said Vicky Free-Sistrunk, with the Glazer Vision Foundation.
Free-Sistrunk said the kids in the mural all have two things in common: they are wearing glasses and having fun.
“And you see them jumping, laughing, playing, and enjoying, and that’s what glasses do; they open up a new world of wonder and an opportunity,” said Free-Sistrunk.
In the past decade, the foundation’s mobile clinic has provided more than 200,000 eye exams and 20,000 new pairs of glasses.
“In the laundry list of priorities for families, sometimes eye care falls to the bottom of that list; over 50 percent of parents can not afford to get an eye screening for their kids,” said Free-Sistrunk.
Jezarel Carter and Jayshawn Hargrove each received their glasses from the mobile clinic.
“It helped me see further than I used to see before I had them on,” said Jayshawn.
From Connect Four to kickball to reading, they have a whole new outlook on life.
“You can see the confidence in some of the kids, right? Their shoulders are a little higher, they feel better, some of them who have had difficulty reading it’s almost like their eyes pop open,” said Jamal Jefferson, who is a supervisor at the Jackson Heights Youth Education Town Center.
Jackson Heights is one of several community centers across Tampa Bay that the mobile clinic visits yearly.
Jezarel said the best part about his new glasses is “that I can wear them for style.”
Donating for new glasses is simple and costs no money. All you have to do is take a selfie in front of the mural at Armature Works and post it to social media with the #OneShareOnePair. Every post equals one new pair of glasses for a child in need.
“I’ve heard kids say, ‘I didn’t know what I was missing until I put those glasses on,’ we don’t want our youth of Tampa Bay to miss out on anything,” said Free-Sistrunk.
