12 Year Old Runs 50 Marathons to Raise Money for Eye Care

"Twelve-year-old Nikolas Toocheck, a student at Hillendale Elementary School, is running a marathon in each of the 50 U.S. states to raise money for the Seva Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides critical vision care to people in need around the world," reports the Southern Chester Weekly. "Through his Running the World for Children Stateside campaign, Nikolas’ goal is to help children in need receive the gift of sight. Funds raised will support Seva’s pediatric programs to prevent blindness and preserve eyesight. With 37 years of experience, Seva is a leading innovator in the delivery of vital sight-saving eye care services. Seva’s programs have a special effort to reach children, the most vulnerable members of our human community. www.seva.org  Why this cause? Nikolas’s father is an eye doctor who has volunteered countless times all over the world, providing eye care to people in need. Nikolas has learned about this critical need while growing up." Read more.

MODO Donates $1 Million in Eyewear to SEVA

"MODO continues its dedication to social responsibility by contributing about $1 million worth of donated eyewear to the SEVA Foundation; a leading innovator in the delivery of vital eye care services to the world’s most vulnerable," notes Midwest Lens. "Through our partnership with SEVA, organizations like Nepal’s Comprehensive Eye Care Society (NNJS) will benefit from the close to $1 million donation we’ve made in the Nepal area. NNJS is credited with coordinating 90 percent of all eye care services in Nepal. Of the 2.2 million Nepali people seeking eye care consultations annually, 43 percent are potentially in need of eyeglasses, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)." Read more.

World Sight Day: Helping the World to See

Thursday, October 11th is World Sight Day, and two milestones have been reached.

The nonprofit health organization Seva Foundation is shining the spotlight has restored eyesight for more than 3 million people and created sustainable eye care programs. It notes that every five seconds someone around the world goes blind and 80% of blindness is preventable or curable.

Meanwhile more than 16 million children in Asia have received free vision screening through Sight for Kids, a partnership program with the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) now marking its 10th anniversary, according to Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. Sight for Kids has arranged to screen hundreds of students on World Sight Day, October 11 at a school in Bangkok. This event is part of an effort to screen another 1 million kids in six Asia Pacific countries during 2012 alone.

At the same time, Essilor Group and Lions Club International will finance free eye exams in three of Istanbul's hospitals. Essilor’s six partners in Turkey will also take action by launching a public awareness campaign on the importance of good vision, which will be kicked off on World Sight Day. In Asia, free eye exams will be organized, for example in Thailand, where employees from Essilor sites  will provide vision screenings and free corrective lenses for orphanages and underprivileged families. In China, employees will be involved in an awareness raising action at Essilor’s showroom dedicated to ophthalmic education, installed in the “Dragonland” mall, between Beijing and the Great Wall. In Latin America, Essilor teams in Brazil and Argentina will launch public awareness campaigns on the need for good vision, carried out by opticians and ophthalmological associations, and via social networks. In France, as part of its special partnership with Lions Club, volunteer teams from Essilor will accompany Lions Club teams in their information campaigns and free eye exam events in more than 20 cities. This year’s World Sight Day will be given a special boost by an artistic happening created for the general public: in Charenton-le-Pont, the Parisian suburb where Essilor’s headquarters are based, urban artist Manfred Stader will create an ephemeral, interactive 3D work on the theme of sight and better vision. In Germany, in association with frames manufacturer Silhouette, Essilor teams will offer 3,000 corrective lenses and distribute eyeglasses to underprivileged populations in Berlin.