DENVER—As World Sight Day 2018 (Oct. 11, 2018) approaches, optometric companies around the world are gearing up to support the 1.2 billion people worldwide who are in need of vision care. And once again, Optometry Giving Sight is leading a global coalition towards this goal. The coalition is made up of more than 60 optometric companies, including some of the world’s biggest and most influential. This year’s coalition includes names such as ABB Optical Group, Alcon Foundation, Bausch + Lomb, CooperVision, Essilor of America, Eye Recommend, EyePromise, Vision Source, VSP Global, WestGroupe, and Carl Zeiss Vision, among many others.

The coalition will use the World Sight Day Challenge to raise funds and awareness for the overwhelming need for vision care worldwide. Their shared mission is to support eyecare programs which offer immediate vision care to those in need, as well as long-lasting developments and training of local eyecare professionals.

This work is still necessary, even with the amazing advances in eyecare we’ve seen recently. Around the world, millions of people are denied access to the basic vision care that would so drastically improve their lives. The global Optical Coalition’s commitment is to bring basic vision care to those who need it most. In 2017, Optometry Giving Sight supported 47 projects in 24 countries to help achieve this goal.

This year, to support World Sight Day, ABB Optical Group will donate a percentage of its Digital Eye Lab Network sales through the month of October to Optometry Giving Sight.

The Alcon Foundation will once again run its Cycle for Sight 20/20 Challenge. The foundation’s goal is to enroll 2,020 Alcon participants, which will then trigger a $25,000 donation to Optometry Giving Sight.

And for the third year in a row, Bausch + Lomb is holding a national employee fundraising initiative for World Sight Day, which will run alongside social media coverage of World Sight Day.

Gold Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight CooperVision is organizing a worldwide Fight for Sight campaign for the seventh year in a row. Employee-led fundraisers, which include artwork and premium parking auctions, themed apparel days, raffles, food sales and wellness events, are held over three months. Money raised by employees will be matched by the company, bringing CooperVision’s donation near to the $1 million mark.

EyePromise kicked off its fundraising at Vision Expo West this year, where they hosted a cycling challenge called “Go the Extra Mile in support of OGS.” EyePromise will also participate in other employee and customer led fundraisers.

In an effort to acknowledge the eye care professionals who work tirelessly to achieve World Sight Day’s goals, Essilor of America is launching the DifferenceMakers campaign. By visiting EssilorUSA.com/DifferenceMakers starting Oct. 11, 2018, anyone can nominate an eyecare professional to join Essilor on a mission trip to Southeast Asia in 2019. In addition, Essilor’s non-profit Essilor Vision Foundation hosted its annual Kids Vision Fest on Oct. 4. Approximately 400 students visited Essilor of America’s Dallas campus for free eye exams and glasses, some of which the Essilor team will personally deliver on World Sight Day.

Vision Source is collecting donations from over 3,300 member practices nationwide. Employees will also lead their own fundraisers through online auctions, dining events, virtual talent show, and a golfing trip raffle. Vision Source is also donating 50% of the profits from its World Sight Day branded products to Optometry Giving Sight.

VSP Global will match donations made through employee fundraisers worldwide, as well as promote social media coverage in support of World Sight Day.

ZEISS Vision USA has donated 300,000 eyeglass lenses to underserved communities in Haiti and Central America so far this year. They also provide free eye exams to over 6,000 patients in underserved communities in India each month.

Carl Zeiss Vision Canada employees are hosting one event each week for the entirety of October in efforts to raise funds for Optometry Giving Sight. Carl Zeiss Vision Canada will match funds raised through these employee-led initiatives.

This year, WestGroupe and their team of champions who overcome challenges everyday as blind and vision impaired individuals are inviting the world to take part in the #WithoutMySight Challenge. The challenge asks participants to try everyday tasks such as making coffee or applying makeup blindfolded, record themselves doing it, and upload that 30 second video to social media with the hashtag #WithoutMySight, and with a tag for @WestGroupe. Participants are also asked to make a donation to Optometry Giving Sight before posting to social media.

Dr. Juan Carlos Aragon, Chairman of Optometry Giving Sight reinforced just how important this work is. Aragon said, “It’s amazing to see the effort and passion from the leadership and employees behind these companies. Without them, our work wouldn’t be possible.”

Even more ECPs, optical retailers, suppliers and vision organizations are planning to raise awareness for the need for access to vision care in the U.S. and around the world for this week’s World Sight Day. VMAIL will bring more spotlight to some of those initiatives later this week, and throughout Oct. 11 World Sight Day.