Author: Corinne Waldon

MacuHealth has built its reputation on a straightforward premise: that the right nutrition, rigorously formulated and scientifically validated, can make a meaningful difference in long-term eye health. It’s a mission that lives comfortably alongside our own.

As a Silver-level partner of Optometry Giving Sight, MacuHealth brings more than a product to the table—they bring a genuine commitment to the optometry community and to the broader goal of ensuring that people everywhere have access to the eye care they need to thrive.

MacuHealth’s Founder and CEO, Frederic Jouhet, puts it this way:

“At MacuHealth, we believe that healthy vision is something everyone deserves — not just those with access to the best care. Our partnership with Optometry Giving Sight reflects our commitment to supporting the optometry community in its most important work: making sure that more people around the world can see clearly, and live fully. We’re proud to stand behind that mission.”

To learn more about MacuHealth and their line of scientifically developed eye health supplements, visit macuhealth.com.

Some donors write a check once. Dr. Eric White of Complete Family Vision Care in San Diego, CA has been writing one every month since 2009! That’s 17 years and $64,000. And he’s not done yet.

Dr. White gives $500 a month—$350 as a recurring OGS donor and $150 through TEAM OGS—a level of sustained commitment that speaks for itself.

His practice regularly requests the TEAM OGS glasses case cards, making sure that every patient who leaves with new frames also leaves knowing their purchase is connected to something larger.

His reason for giving is straightforward:

“We have always felt it is important to give back, and Optometry Giving Sight is our choice for the office. The gift of sight is a precious thing, and we love how Optometry Giving Sight helps so many in need around the world. Look at what they do and you will know why we love Optometry Giving Sight.”

Action every single month, over the course of 17 years, translates to something far beyond any single gift. It translates to a practice that has made giving sight part of who it is. Thank you, Dr. White.

Donations in Action

Each year, donations to Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) enable us to fund projects globally that provide immediate eyecare to those in need today, and expand optometry so vision care is available for years to come.

Grantee Spotlight: Etuaptmumk Eye Care – Wabano Eye Clinic, Ottawa, Canada

For many Indigenous people living in Canadian cities, the barriers to eye care often have little to do with distance. Poverty, the cost of eyewear, transportation, and other systemic issues keep people from accessing services that can be, technically, right down the street.

The Wabano Eye Clinic is designed to change that.

Operating within the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in Ottawa, the clinic delivers comprehensive, no cost primary eye care to urban Indigenous patients in a setting they already know and trust.

Led by Dr. Joshua Smith of Etuaptmumk Eye Care, the clinic uses advanced diagnostic technology to provide full-scope care that meets or exceeds community standards, and is actively training the next generation of eye care professionals. In 2025, optometry interns delivered 33% of all clinic care hours, surpassing the program’s own 25% benchmark.

The need is real. Research has found refractive error prevalence as high as 78% among Indigenous children in Ontario, with 77% of those cases going uncorrected. Indigenous communities also experience disproportionately high rates of diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataracts.

By embedding care within a trusted community institution and working within publicly funded insurance programs, the Wabano Eye Clinic has built something rare: a model that is both culturally responsive and financially sustainable—and replicable in Indigenous communities across Canada.

OGS is proud to support their work.

Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) is proud to announce the recipients of its 2026 grant cycle, awarding nearly $1 million to 20 organizations working to bring sustainable primary eye care to communities around the world. From optometry schools in Somaliland and Cambodia to school eye health programs in Uganda and Jordan, this year’s grants represent some of the most thoughtfully designed, sustainability-minded projects in OGS’s recent history.

“Every grant we award is a commitment—not just to the organization receiving it, but also to the communities that will be served by its work,” said Donna J. Mikulecky, Executive Director of Optometry Giving Sight. “The 2026 cohort reflects the full breadth of what optometry-led primary eye care can be: training the next generation of eye care professionals, building the infrastructure to serve patients today, and laying the groundwork for care that will outlast any single funding cycle. We’re proud to stand behind each of these organizations.”

The 2026 grant recipients are:

• Adal Medical University (Somaliland)
  Building Sustainable Optometry Education, Clinic and Pediatric Eye Care in Somaliland
• Berkeley Vision (Pakistan)
  Every Child Sees: One School at a Time — Advancing Child Eye Health and Vision Care in Schools
• Brien Holden Foundation (Vietnam)
  Enhancing Access to and Quality of Paediatric Refractive Services in Vietnam Through the Paediatric Refractive Error Training Centre at Hanoi Medical University (HMU)
• Canadian Vision Care (Jamaica)
  Jamaican Rural Clinics
• Charis Vision & Health Mission (Nigeria)
  The Optometry Education Project
• Etuaptmumk Eye Care: Wabano Eye Clinic (Canada)
  Serving the Eye Care Needs of the Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Ontario
• Eye Health Africa (Uganda)
  A Service-Learning Model for Optometry Training and Primary School Vision Screening Among Refugee Children in Northern Uganda
• Eye Spy Foundation (USA)
  Eye Spy Jacksonville: Optometry-Supported Navigation & Community Hub
• International Eye Health and Vision Association (Jordan)
  Strengthening School Eye Health Through Optometry-Led Services in Jordan
• Mission for Vision (India)
  Continuation of 2025 Vision Centre Project, Uttar Pradesh
• OPTOGLOBE — The Global Optometry Student Community (Global)
  Equipping the Future: A Support Program for Undergraduate Optometry Students Worldwide
• Optometry Unit, University of the West Indies (Trinidad & Tobago)
  A Sustainable Keratoconus & Myopia Control Specialty Clinic
• Queen’s University Belfast (Kenya)
  Strengthening Optometry Completion-Based Practicum Model via Academic Vision Centre to Deliver Equitable School & Community Eye Care in Kaimosi, Kenya
• See Better. Learn Better, Ltd. (Jamaica)
  Comprehensive and sustainable eye care for school children in Jamaica.
• Special Olympics International (USA & Ghana)
  Enhancing Vision Care Services and Training for People with Intellectual Disabilities
• Stichting Eye Care Foundation (Cambodia)
  Establishment of the Bachelor of Optometry Program in Cambodia
• Université de Montréal (UdeM) / Unité de santé internationale
  (Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, Mali, Lebanon, Vietnam)
  Optometry School Development in La Francophonie (OGS-UM Franco-Opto-Hub)
• Université de Montréal (UdeM) / Unité de santé internationale (Haiti)
  Haiti Optometry School Development – Creation and Strengthening of Academic Continuity at the Université d’État d’Haïti (UEH) in Port-au-Prince
• University of Cape Coast, School of Optometry and Vision Science (Ghana)
  The Optometric Service and Community Outreach for Practical Experience (Opto-SCOPE)
• VOSH California (Nicaragua)
  Nicaraguan Rural Clinic Development Project
• World Council of Optometry (Global)
  Looking Towards the Future: Optometry Program in Advocacy and Leadership (OPAL)

About Optometry Giving Sight

Optometry Giving Sight raises funds from the optometric community to support programs that end preventable blindness and vision impairment worldwide. By offering immediate eye care and building the sustainable infrastructure needed to expand permanent access, OGS empowers communities to thrive. Over the last 20 years, OGS funding has provided primary eye care services to more than 15 million people, assisted in training over 14,000 eye care personnel, and established more than 200 vision centers in over 70 countries.

The World Is Waiting — And We’re Showing Up

Every year, organizations around the world submit proposals to Optometry Giving Sight with a shared conviction: that access to primary eye care shouldn’t depend on where you were born. This year, 21 projects have been awarded grants, and the breadth of what they represent is nothing short of remarkable. 

From Somaliland to Nicaragua, from Jacksonville, Florida to Ottawa, Ontario to Islamabad, Pakistan, these projects span six continents and dozens of communities where the need for primary eye care is urgent, real, and too often invisible to the rest of the world. What strikes us most, looking at this list, is how much thoughtfulness it represents. These are carefully designed, sustainability-minded programs built to outlast the funding cycle and leave behind something durable.

Some are building optometry schools from the ground up, ensuring that the next generation of eye care professionals emerges from the communities that need them most. Others are equipping mobile clinics, establishing vision centers, and training practitioners to reach patients who would otherwise never receive an exam.

School eye health programs in Pakistan, Jordan, Uganda, Jamaica, and Somaliland are addressing a truth this community knows well: a child who can’t see the board can’t learn, and a child who can’t learn faces a lifetime of narrowed possibility. Several projects target Indigenous and refugee populations; groups whose access to care has been historically limited and who stand to benefit from sustained, community-rooted investment.

The full list of funded projects will be announced soon. In the meantime, know this: every dollar raised through the World Sight Day Challenge, every donation made through TEAM OGS, every gift from partners like you—it’s all in here doing exactly what it was meant to do. And we are grateful.

Eleven years. That’s how long Dr. Doris Wong and her team at San Ramon Family Optometry have shown up for the World Sight Day Challenge — and they’re not slowing down.

A perennial top donor to the Challenge, Dr. Wong has built a participation strategy that gets more effective every year: a raffle prize that gives patients a reason to give generously, paired with a practice-level donation for every complete pair of glasses sold. It’s simple, scalable, and proven.

This year’s raffle prize? Two tickets to the 49ers vs. Raiders game. We think it’s safe to say the waiting room conversation is going to be lively!

“Our strategy for the Challenge is having a great raffle prize for our patients,” says Dr. Wong. “The more they donate, the more chances of winning. All proceeds are donated directly to the World Sight Day Challenge. Also, our office will make a donation for each pair of complete glasses sold. This strategy has helped us beat our contribution amount year after year.”

For Dr. Wong, the motivation behind it all is straightforward: “There is nothing more precious than the gift of sight, and we play a big role in improving a patient’s quality of life through their vision.”

Eleven years of showing up! Here’s to many more. Thank you, Dr. Wong.

For Dr. Echharam and the team at North Toronto Vision Care, the World Sight Day Challenge isn’t just an annual fundraising event; it’s an annual reminder of why they do what they do.

“Year after year, our practice looks forward to taking part,” says Dr. Echharam. “It’s an opportunity to remind ourselves that our work goes beyond serving our patients—we are also part of a global community working toward a greater purpose.”

That sense of purpose shows up in how they run their campaign. North Toronto Vision Care hosts a fundraising raffle—every eligible donation earns a ticket to win a prize basket—and backs it up with an email blast and social media push to spread the word. They’ve even sold used books for $5 each, turning a simple idea into another avenue for giving.

It’s a model that’s approachable, community-minded, and entirely on-brand for a practice that clearly understands what the Challenge is really about.

“Knowing that our efforts help support individuals in gaining access to eye care and raise awareness about the importance of vision is incredibly meaningful to us,” Dr. Echharam adds. “This year, we’re proud to once again come together as a team, contribute to this global movement, and help give the gift of sight.”

Thank you, North Toronto Vision Care! The global community is better for having you in it.

Donations in Action

Each year, donations to Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) enable us to fund projects globally that provide immediate eyecare to those in need today, and expand optometry so vision care is available for years to come.

FUELING A MOVEMENT

Every dollar raised during the World Sight Day Challenge goes to work for the mission. OGS is a lean, efficient organization, which means that funds raised support everything that makes the work possible — from the grants that reach patients on the ground, to the infrastructure that ensures those grants are awarded wisely and managed well. When you give to the Challenge, you’re doing much more than funding a line item. You’re fueling a movement that turns resources into real-world impact.

That work takes many forms. Some grants build the infrastructure that makes long-term care possible — optometry schools, mobile clinics, vision centers in communities where none existed before. Others train the practitioners who will still be serving those communities long after a single grant cycle ends. Still others go directly to patients: comprehensive eye exams, prescription glasses, and the kind of immediate intervention that changes a life on the spot. What they share is a commitment to sustainability—to leaving something behind that lasts.

This fall, as practices across North America fundraise, compete, and give, every contribution is adding to that pool. A silent auction in Toronto. A bake sale in Kansas City. A single patient rounding up at checkout in Los Angeles. It all becomes something real, in a community somewhere in the world that is waiting for exactly this. That’s what the World Sight Day Challenge is for. And that’s what your participation makes possible.

In addition to helping people in developing areas around the world, we also recognize and address needs right here in North America:

Montréal, Canada: Université de Montréal École d’optométrie

In a long-term care centre on the outskirts of Montréal, elderly residents with limited mobility and limited access to specialists are getting something they’ve long gone without: comprehensive eye care, right where they live.

Dr. Benoit Tousignant and his colleagues at the Université de Montréal’s École d’optométrie are equipping a mobile optometry teaching clinic at the Pavillon Alfred-Desrochers. Optometry graduates perform full eye exams and provide optical services on-site, under clinical supervision — developing their geriatric care skills while serving a community that would otherwise have to go without.

It’s a model that serves two purposes at once: care delivered today, and the expertise to deliver it tomorrow. And it ensures that an all-too-often-overlooked population is seen and can see.

Oregon, USA: Envision EyeCare for All

In rural Oregon, the barriers to primary eye care are geographic, systemic, and deeply entrenched. Envision EyeCare for All is working to dismantle them on every front simultaneously.

Through their Eyes on Equity project, Envision is delivering comprehensive eye exams and prescription glasses to underserved, rural, and transient populations via a dedicated mobile vision vehicle — while simultaneously advocating for the integration of optometry into Oregon’s broader healthcare infrastructure. In the current project period, that included meetings with four state senators, collaboration with the Oregon Optometric Physicians Association, and statewide recognition through Oregon Health Forward.

The work has also led to Dr. Rebecca Chown’s appointment to the American Optometric Association’s Pediatric Eye Health and Vision Access Committee and a gubernatorial appointment to Oregon’s Rural Health Coordinating Council — positions from which she is now helping shape pediatric vision priorities across the state. This is what sustained investment looks like. It’s care delivered today, along with a system rebuilt to deliver it long after the grant period ends.

Your support made all of this possible. The World Sight Day Challenge is the engine behind so much of our work. Thank you for keeping it running.

Conexiant Vision has been a cornerstone of the optometry and ophthalmology media landscape for decades. Formerly known as Pentavision, Conexiant develops customized solutions and programs that speak directly to the needs of brands looking to reach optometrists and ophthalmologists — through digital advertising, content creation, lead generation, owned events, and a portfolio of trusted industry publications including Contact Lens Spectrum, Eyecare Business, and Optometric Management.

As a Gold-level partner of Optometry Giving Sight, Conexiant Vision brings more than reach. They bring a deep understanding of the community at the heart of this mission.

Doug Mersten, Director of Business Development for Optometry, puts it this way:

“At Conexiant Vision, we’re proud to support the mission of Optometry Giving Sight. The optometry community we serve every day is one that genuinely cares about people — and OGS is proof of that. Knowing that our partnership helps connect that community to meaningful global impact makes this one of the most rewarding relationships we have.”

We’re grateful to have Conexiant in our corner! To learn more about their vision solutions, visit conexiant.com/vision-solutions.