For 3,000 New York City kids, their time at the Fresh Air Fund camp in upstate NY has been one of swimming, hiking, and other fun camp experiences. For many of them, it’s also been about getting much-needed eye care, thanks to OneSight’s mobile eye clinic.

OneSight, a global nonprofit founded by Luxottica, has been on site at The Fresh Air Fund’s Fishkill, NY camp this summer to provide eyecare services to campers. The four-week clinic brought free, comprehensive eye exams (and eyeglasses, for those who needed them) to the 3,000 children from low-income NYC communities who are attending any of the five encampments at the Sharpe Reservation, a 2,000-acre slice of nature and tranquility.
 
This is the 12^th year that OneSight is teaming up with the Fresh Air Fund summer camp. About 150 volunteers from Luxottica and Luxottica-owned businesses provided the screenings, exams, and made the eyewear. Every child at the camps receives a vision screening and preliminary tests. Those who require additional examination or require eyewear move on to EyeLeen, the mobile vision care unit sponsored by LensCrafters. The van is equipped with technology to provide a full diagnostic eye exam and staffed by volunteer optometrists as well as optical staffers who run the lab equipment, making eyewear on the premises.
 
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CARING IN ACTION: See our photo album from the camp clinic here
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Fabrizio Uguzzoni, president of Luxottica Wholesale North America, was on site as well. He spoke with Eyecare Business about why his company invests so much time and money to these clinics. Luxottica Wholesale is the sponsor of the camp clinics.

“After you see the reaction of the kids, when they see what they haven’t been seeing, it’s going to drive you to come back again and again,” he said.
“I believe its part of a bigger mission of our company. Yes, we have to have a good business for our shareholders, but we also have to create awareness and provide access to vision care for the underserved communities. As a founding supporter of OneSight, I think what Luxottica is doing here is exactly what we are trying to do in the world.
“Here in Fishkill, it’s even nicer, because these are our neighbors. It’s one thing to go into underdeveloped countries in Africa—we have permanent clinics there—but a lot of times you don’t think there is so much of a need so close to where we live," he continued.
“We know there are 1.1 billion in need of vision correction in the world. That’s a huge number. It’s a vision crisis, really. Consider that 80% of what you learn is through your vision sense. So not having access to vision correction if you need it is really putting people at a disadvantage.”

So what kind of impact has the OneSight vision clinics been having on the kids at the Fresh Air Fund camp? A fairly large one, it seems, if Uguzzoni’s personal observation as a volunteer is any indication.

 “Since this morning, I’ve seen only two kids with 20/20 vision. And of the ones who measure less than 20/20, not very many of them were already wearing frames.”
 
Dawn Yager, vision care clinic manager for OneSight, says the work of vision clinics like this make a difference in lives.
“We know that children living in underserved communities are one of the most susceptible groups to undiagnosed vision problems, providing eye exams and glasses to a child in need can fundamentally change their future,” she said. Yager told Eyecare Business that the work of OneSight and Luxottica employees fits the definition of corporate responsibility.
“What Luxottica does really well around the world is glasses. And specifically in North America where we have the retail aspect as well, we do it extraordinarily well,” she explained. “[The clinics are] the right thing to do as a company. So many companies just write a check, and say they are contributing. And they are. But we’re also contributing with hands-on people around the world.”
 
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About the Fresh Air Fund:
The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.8 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Each summer, nearly 4,000 children visit volunteer host families in rural and suburban communities along the East Coast and Southern Canada. And 3,000 children attend five Fresh Air camps in the summer on a 2,000-acre site in Fishkill, NY. For info, visit: freshair.org
 
About OneSight:
OneSight, a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) sponsored and founded by Luxottica, is dedicated to providing sustainable access to a comprehensive eye exam and quality eyewear to those in need around the world. In 27 years, OneSight has helped 9 million people in 41 countries and 47 states see clearly and leading innovative programs and partnerships to help millions more. For more information, visit onesight.org.

PICTURED: Fabrizio Uguzzoni, president of Luxottica Wholesale North America, does a color blindness test with one of the Fresh Air Fund campers.