January 11, 2012

Serendipitous Passion

By bgenaw

"Day two of the 2012 Atlanta OneSight clinic is done! Another 165 kids can now see the world more clearly - lots of smiling little faces! We found glaucoma in a 9 year old little boy - his optic nerve is damaged and his vision is impaired. He will be seen by a specialist within the next few days. Glaucoma cannot be cured and left untreated leads to blindness. Hopefully he can be treated and what vision he has left will be saved. His mother had no clue there was a problem." -Jon Beaton

Today was the first day we dispensed glasses to the children. Every dispense is warm and special- and I have a couple stories from today that I would like to share.

When Lance Partin was dispensing glasses to a little boy, he was fitting the glasses and asked him how they felt. The little boy said, "It's not the way they feel, it's how I can see!!"

On our first day of clinic, Patty Riddle pre-tested a boy in elementary school. Today, Patty was on the dispense team and had the opportunity to hand deliver his new glasses. The minute she took them out of the box, he got the biggest smile on his face! When Patty put them on his face and asked him how they fit, he said good even though they fit completely crooked and the nose pieces were off. She was able custom fit them for him, but he didn't even care because he was so excited to get his new glasses and see clearly!

"Oh my gosh!!! It was very rewarding... It was truly amazing to see the little boy so excited to get his glasses. Clear vision is something most of us take advantage of on a daily basis. As a lab technician, to see the product of your passion and labor be personally delivered is priceless." -Patty Riddle

A connection between the two stories is how excited the children were to get their glasses and see. They didn't care if they were lopsided because they knew that their new glasses were going to give them clear vision which is extremely important to them, even at such a young age! It feels so good to be a part of something that makes such a huge difference in their lives. To know the difference you are making for them is what really gives us the passion to do what we are doing.

Today was filled with all kinds of fun and exciting things!

Thank you to LensCrafters Region 4 for our lunch today- you definitely helped us re-fuel on pizza and salad so we could get back to work!

After clinic we held our debrief session which included our pinning ceremony. The tradition is that at every clinic, the core members receive custom pins for our mission. The pin represents our love and passion for what OneSight means to us and gives us an opportunity to share our passion with others. We are a part of a team who have pulled together from all over the country to change lives. We are not only changing the lives of the children, every one of us will leave with this experience embedded into our hearts forever.

Today was also the day we had our silent auction. We had all kinds of donations, From Oakley sunglasses and OneSight gear, to hometown items and hand knit scarves and beanie set! There were some fun and intense moments that kept everyone on their toes. Overall we are proud to say we have raised over $1,600 for OneSight as a team!!!

During our down time tonight, a group of clinic members headed over to the Perimeter Mall. Cynthia, Michelle and Ruben popped into a Sunglass Hut sporting their clinic shirts. Immediately, they were greeted by the associate and he said "Hey! You're with OneSight!" It made them feel like celebrities when he smiled and pointed to the OneSight sign at his register.
"It was thrilling to see his face light up as he made the connection between what he reads in his store communications and actually seeing it in person. We explained how OneSight gives Luxottica employees the opportunity to travel all over the country and world to help people receive sight. We extended the offer to visit our clinic location this week to see the hundreds of children and volunteer a few hours. We gave tips to start his volunteering for OneSight, took a group picture, and said our goodbyes. It's rewarding to inspire others to such an important cause as OneSight." -Michelle Marks

As we were winding down for the evening, a group of our team was lounging when through our hotel doors came Sunglass Hut Zone 6 Regional Managers. How serendipitous it is for Luxottica employees to be staying at the same place for two different reasons at the same time. After checking in, we got the opportunity to hang out with Dan Murphy who is the Regional Manager for Region 52. Dan has been chosen for the Thailand 2012 team this May! Thank you Dan for sharing his fund-raising strategies, smiles and a shared passion for OneSight with us.

Slimey Pants (Michelle) and Teddy Graham (Lance) are helping team Atlanta save the WORLD from poor vision, ONe kid at a time!

5 Comments

  1. EyeMed 4th floor says:

    Diane,

    We miss you and know you are having the best time of your life on your first mission. Can’t wait to hear your stories.

    Posted on Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:34 am EST

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