Earlier this year, ABB Optical Group asked ECPs to nominate charities in their communities that would be helped by a grant through the ABB Cares program. The nominations came in, and ABB Optical Group has awarded $14,000 in grants several organizations.
The services provided by those charities range from free eyecare to a therapeutic riding program for at-risk children, young adults, and veterans; and the grants, given in recognition of the charities' exceptional programming and community impact, range from $1,000 to $5,000.

"Last year we launched ABB Cares to support the favorite charities of eyecare professionals and received an overwhelmingly positive response. This year proved to be even more challenging in selecting only seven finalists out of nearly 100 outstanding nominations,” says Angel Alvarez, founder and CEO of ABB Optical Group.”It’s obvious from all of the nominations that our industry has an extraordinary impact on the communities where we live and do business."
 
The 2015 ABB Cares grant recipients include Marengo Community Center of Marengo, IA; Family Promises of the Verdugos in Burbank, CA; South Jersey Eye Center in Camden, NJ; the Domestic Violence Crisis Center of Minot, ND; Backpack Buddies of Fort Dodge, IA; the Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange, CA; and Butterfly Dreams in Watkinsville, GA.
  Nominated by Iowa Valley Eye Care, the Marengo Community Center will receive a $5,000 ABB Cares grant to help continue its senior dining program, which serves approximately 50 seniors in the Marengo community five days a week, including meal delivery for 20 home-bound, elderly residents.
 
  Family Promises of the Verdugos, nominated by Kenneth Wainwright, O.D., serves homeless children and their families. The organization will receive a $2,500 ABB Cares grant to help fund case management and support the charity's job readiness program, which assists families with identifying career opportunities, résumé building, clothing and transportation.
Last year, Family Promises served more than 25 families, including 42 children, who received 10,656 nights of shelter collectively, with 80 percent of families eventually returning to permanent housing and 70 percent of caregivers gaining employment.
  Also receiving a $2,500 ABB Cares grant is the South Jersey Eye Center (SJEC), nominated by Charles Fitzpatrick, O.D., of NJ-based Eyexam Associates. The center has been providing eye exams and screenings to the uninsured and low-income populations since 1954.
The grant will help fund Sight First for Families, a new program that provides free, comprehensive eye examinations and eye glasses to Camden city children and individuals who are poor, low income, underinsured or uninsured.

Nominated by Dr. Jaime Haaland, the Domestic Violence Crisis Center of Minot, ND, will receive a $1,000 ABB Cares grant to help provide shelter bedding, lockers for domestic abuse victims’ personal items and transportation for families.
 Since 1977, the center has served women and children looking to escape various forms of abuse by providing two 24-hour crisis lines, 24-hour crisis intervention by qualified staff and/or volunteers, 24- hour emergency shelter in a secure facility, emergency food and clothing, safety planning, legal advocacy, support groups for adults and children, transitional living programs, and community outreach and education.
  Backpack Buddies is a program of the Fort Dodge Noon Sertoma, a regional organization in Iowa dedicated to speech and hearing, youth, and patriotic causes in the community. Nominated by Terry Moehnke, O.D., Backpack Buddies will receive a $1,000 ABB Cares grant to purchase food for in-need elementary and middle school children.
 In the Fort Dodge school system, more than 62% of students receive free and reduced-price meals through the USDA's national school lunch program.
  The Lestonnac Free Clinic, nominated by William D. Mosier, M.D., has been providing free healthcare services to low-income and uninsured individuals in southern California since 1979. The clinic will receive a $1,000 ABB Cares grant to help provide equipment and staff for its eye care program, specifically, an ophthalmoscope/otoscope diagnostic set and a gonioscopy lens, as well as the services of a case management nurse.
  Nominated by Ellen Goad of Thomas Eye Center, the Butterfly Dreams Farm Therapeutic Riding Program provides equine therapy to children and young adults who are disabled, at-risk, have special needs, are in the foster care system, or otherwise need mental health support, including veterans and individuals suffering from grief.
Established in 2005, Butterfly Dreams is situated on a nine-acre farm in Watkinsville, GA, where 11 therapy horses reside. With a network of volunteers and certified therapists and instructors, the program has provided therapy for more than 250 individuals, ages two through 25, over the past 10 years. The organization's $1,000 ABB Cares grant will fund Butterfly Dreams scholarships for children whose families are experiencing financial hardships.

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For more information about the ABB Cares program and to sign up for notifications about next year's grant application process, visit ABBConcise.com/ABBCares.