The Optometry Giving Sight Organization has recognized Mountain View Optometry Clinic’s Dr. Tom Wilk, Dr. Michele Naruszewicz, and staff as platinum level fundraisers.
In honour of World Sight Day in 2015, an initiative of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, the clinic’s two locations and its clients raised more than $5,000. This money is used to fund projects that provide vision care, local training and infrastructure support for people who are blind or vision impaired due to uncorrected refractive error.
“It’s an annual event during which we do two things. We build awareness about the international situation regarding eye care in underdeveloped countries. The second thing we do is we fundraise to tackle the same problem,” Dr. Wilk explained.
He said there are more than 600 million people worldwide who are vision impaired because they cannot access or afford basic vision care. This campaign is a major contributor to VISION 2020: The Right to Sight’s goal of eliminating avoidable blindness by the year 2020.
Dr. Wilk explained his practice fundraised through running a 50/50 draw, holding a silent auction of donated items from local businesses and the clinic’s suppliers, and the optometrists donating their exam fees for the day.
“We’re very proud of our efforts. … It’s a collective effort, it isn’t one person or two people – it’s our patients, our suppliers, our staff, and our doctors.”
“We’re honoured to be recognized as one of the top fundraisers in the country.”
Dr. Wilk anticipates his clinic will focus more on promoting the day on social media this year. Planning for this year’s fundraising efforts will begin in July.
“We’re passionate about this cause – it has a relatively simple solution. If somebody doesn’t have access to basic eye care services, it can mean the difference between not being able to get a proper education, because they can’t see well enough to do it, or even being able to go to work and support their families. It can literally change somebody’s life.”
