Clinic Blog: 2011 Cleveland Clinic Blog

November 17, 2011

Day Eleven

By kvernon

Harold and Tom led our cheer for the day of “We are OneSight”. We got pumped up to see 157 children and making 118 pair of eyeglasses.

We came back to the hotel and had a pizza dinner while holding the second silent auction. We also had our pinning ceremony since we will be leaving from the clinic site to travel home. It was great to hear the awesome comments that everyone had for each other.

Here are some comments from the team:

JS- It was not only great working in an area close to where I grew up but also I was able to volunteer with a close friend and my dad. OneSight is an organization that I spend a lot of time on and being able to share its mission and goals is really meaningful.

Amy N.- It was such an eye opening experience that has changed my life and my future plans. I met so many young people whom touched my heart deeply. One child, Nigel, was so excited he could not keep still in his seat. When he received his glasses he hugged me and smiled warmly at me.

Gary Wolf- Had a great experience helping those in need on a TEAM…CONFIRMED my passion for being a Licensed Optician. Great to return to my roots of working in the lab.

Tom – I think it is truly amazing that we can get a group of strangers together, that can work as such a great team to help out all the kids from start to finish and then dispense the glasses to them and see their faces just light up!!!

Pat Lemieux-If you are looking for a way to make a difference, this is it. I had the opportunity to go to a school to dispense. I dispensed a pair of glasses to one young lady who had never worn glasses before. When she put her glasses on her face lit up and she said, “Wow, I can read this paper now.” She went back to class and just before we left the school, she returned to the library to be tutored. When she saw me, she started waving and had the biggest smile on her face. It made my day to know that we had made a difference in her life.

Brad – as the local coordinator this mission is especially important to me. Helping kids the world over is an amazing feeling, but being able to do it in my hometown is even more rewarding. I sat at the control desk and was struck by the number of children with very strong corrections that have never worn glasses. Add to that the over 20 referrals we have done I know that we are making a difference in the Cleveland community.

Dr. J. – Sooooo much fun working with the kids and to know that for the first time ever we will make a life changing difference in a child’s career. Vision and hearing are the two most important learning tools for school age kids, and to be a part of helping this is just incredible. I am thankful to be able to help the OneSight organization and the children most especially.

Katie – These past two weeks have been absolutely life changing. Seeing the sheer number of children come through the clinic needing correction has definitely given many of us a chance to count our blessings. Several kids have come through with very strong prescriptions that have never had glasses before; it’s amazing these kids can brush their teeth in the morning let alone have any fighting chance to succeed in the world. Knowing that they will now have a chance to see the world clearly, and being a part of helping this come to fruition is extremely inspiring and will change many of us volunteers’ lives for good.

Janet- My passion has been to be able to see student’s faces light up when they receive their glasses. There was a student that was 17 years old and he talked about his eyes being the vision to the world and now that he can see he will conquer the world. His goal is to go to college and be a successful businessman. I’m sure he will reach his goals!

Dorie- . Being part of the Cleveland Clinic and seeing the kid’s faces light up when the students pick out there glasses touches my heart. Knowing we can give them a chance to a brighter future makes my OneSight clinic a rewarding experience..

Sr. Jane – This is a great experience volunteering with One Sight – the Team is so great offering their gifts and talents to the school children of Cleveland OH. Thank you so much for coming. The students are so happy to receive their glasses to help improve their sight and school work. Great program!!

Dave – Having lived in Cleveland, I appreciate being able to come back “home” and contribute to helping such a wonderful community. Cleveland has had its challenges, but continually rises up to them and surpasses expectations – very much like the experiences that arise in this clinic. Today, a 16 year-old patient who lost her glasses about a month ago came through with a profound refractive error. With glasses she corrects to only 20/50 in each eye. Without glasses she is functionally blind. How she has gotten this far in school can only be described as amazing. After giving her a new prescription, one of the other team members came back and asked if it would be okay to give her a spare pair. She will leave here today with new glasses, and get so much more out of school and so much more out of life.

M Mendoza - On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to make a young student’s day to day life a little easier. She already had a pair of glasses with her as a sixth grader but, there was still an issue. Her right eye strength was double the strength that was necessary and the left eye’s power was also incorrect. She stated struggling with the glasses over the last several months. So in the end I convinced the young student that we found the correction that would make her new glasses a joy to use and serve their intended purpose. As a team, we were able to get it right for this student that is now allowed to use her vision without any struggle.

Tom Sherfey- This has been an incredible experience helping sooooo many children in Cleveland that truly needed our support. I am so proud of all the kids we were able to reach out to giving the gift of sight and making a difference in their lives. This has truly been a life changing experience for me and I know it has been for the children as well.

Rodney…This is my 5^th year in Cleveland and believe me when I say..”Team Cleveland ROCKS”. It is like spending two weeks with your extended family and I ended up with a great roommate, James..... Today we saw a lil girl who had a very high plus RX +7.00 with a -4.75 cyl. and she has never worn glasses before..I am very sure that her life will change after receiving the gift of sight from OneSight.

James –This is a very special clinic for me, not only did I have the chance to help hundreds of children see the world in a totally different way, I also had the opportunity to train and empower others to produce eyewear…..making friends and having fun the whole time. I have a passion for helping others and I’m thankful the Onesight and Luxottica provides me the opportunity to do so.

Pam – Onesight clinics are the highlight of my year and this clinic is no exception. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to help so many children in need. What we do affects not only that child but their family as well. I definitely receive more from this experience than I give!!

Nina – This was my first Onesight clinic and I didn’t really know what to expect before coming here. I can definitely say that I truly enjoyed my week at the clinic – I loved being able to give eye exams to those who really needed it (hello, high myopes and hyperopes who have never worn correction!) and I also loved the teamwork involved in the whole process. Everyone seemed to want to be here and to love clinic, which made me love it all the more. I hope to do more of these clinics in the future and continue to provide eye care for those in need!

Patty- Onesight for me is extremely important to help people or kids around the world, it is my passion. This clinic gave me the courage to take the last step to go back to school and get my license.:)

Tracy- You never know how a pair of glasses, something we may take for granted, can change the direction of a child’s life. Seeing the glimmer in their eyes and smile on their face is priceless! I am grateful to have the opportunity to volunteer with OneSight!

Melissa-Wow! What a great week! The team in Cleveland is awesome. Everyone is working together to give the gift of sight to the students in Cleveland. It has been a very rewarding week and tomorrow will be our final day giving the gift of sight.

Stephanie- This is my First clinic, and boy what an amazing experience. It is thrilling to watch someone blink into new sight. I loved meeting all the different sides of Luxottica. This company is comprised of some fantastic people with darling hearts. What a proud feeling to be part of this journey.

Mike F-Who could have known that a simple act of kindness could change so many lives at one time? This mission has opened my eyes to being pleasantly surprised by the little things. I never thought that reaching out to 1 child, even though she did not receive or need glasses could still change her life in so many ways. The experience of being genuinely cared for and shown the much needed attention meant more to her than anything I feel. I was humbled by an innocent smile of gratitude after telling this small What but instead she thanked me, gave me a hug, and said maybe next time. She knows that someone cares, but not just someone, a team of people who she can count on care. I will never forget how she made me feel

Chris…As many of you may know the ultimate goal of OneSight is to provide eye care and glasses to those that need them the most but may not have the means to provide them for themselves. This is my first and hopefully not my last clinic. I was fortunate enough to have an “Aha” moment when a young girl put her glasses on and realized what her school and friends looked like for possibly the first time. As the two weeks have gone by I have learned that OneSight is truly much more. It is the uniting of Luxottica retail into one being with one common goal. I have met amazing people each with a story of their own and a purpose of their own. I thank each and every one of you for this blessing. I hope everyone within the company takes advantage of what is out there and gives of themselves for the experience of OneSight.

Terry – What a wonderful group of associates I was privileged to work with – all with a huge passion for OneSight. I feel honored to have met them all. We have made a big difference in the Cleveland area.

Harold Sumpter

What an experience. I have a new found appreciation for what our associates put into each pair of eye glasses. It’s tough work that requires concentration and a commitment to quality in each pair. I know that this will not be my last experience. I appreciated the opportunity and am proud to work for an organization that has a desire to provide this gift across the street and across the world.

Sonya- I have been on many clinics. I was honored to be on this one with an amazing team that meshed very well. The children were well behaved and in dire need of glasses. To see the impact you have on a child’s life that could not see before they came to this clinic, is unbelievable. I know we all left our mark in Cleveland!

Sailesh-we were on our way to dispense glasses to local school and right at the school traffic light crossing guard asked us to stop for students to cross and four out of five kids were wearing our glasses which we dispensed two days before and one of the student waived at me ,it was great feeling.

Deborah Gerbetz

November 7, 2011

Day One

By kvernon

We started our day out by filling ourselves with a great breakfast provided by the hotel. We then loaded onto the buses to make our way to the clinic site. After a few wrong turns, we FINALLY made it!! Unloading from the bus, we made our way into the building (what great architecture!) Shortly after our orientation and training, the children started arriving. After a busy day of dilation, auto-refracting, "eye-puffing" (tonometry), and the children picking cool fluorescent green or pink frames, we ended our clinic day after seeing 188 children and making 164 pair of eyeglasses! We saw prescriptions as high as a +9.00 sphere, or a -7.00 cylinder.

We made our way back to the hotel by bus (no wrong turns!) and rested up for our grand adventure to the Barley House restaurant where we gorged ourselves on Potbelly Meltz, Deep Dish Pizzas, and Cheddar Bacon Waffle Fries. Those of us that felt overly stuffed decided we should do the "healthy" thing and walk back to the hotel. Some decided to remain full and take the shuttle. We saw some great sites on the walk back to the hotel including Tower City where the movie The Avengers was filmed.

This ended our fabulous journey on Day 1. More to come…..

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Clinic Blog: 2011 Cleveland Clinic Blog

November 17, 2011

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