Six hundred million people around the globe are functionally blind because they don’t have access to eye exams and glasses. Sight can make the difference between a life of poverty and a life of opportunity. By enabling someone to see clearly, you increase their chances of living a more fulfilling life.
This Thursday is World Sight Day, an annual day of awareness to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. This year’s call to action is “eye care for all.” Not only does World Sight Day have an incredibly important mission, but it provides your practice with an opportunity to get involved. This Thursday, you can show patients that your practice cares about social impact.
1. Spread awareness through social media
Low on ideas for your practice’s social media pages? World Sight Day is the perfect opportunity to write a quick tweet or Facebook post. Join the conversation by using the #WorldSightDay tag. Write a quick “Happy #WorldSightDay to all of our patients!” or choose your favorite vision care nonprofit to highlight. If your practice is on Instagram, you can host a fun contest. Ask patients to post a picture of their favorite sight, such as the beach or a family portrait, and tag your practice along with #WorldSightDay. Then, you can pick a winner and reward them with a simple $10 gift card to a local coffee shop or movie theater.
2. Hold a donation day
Your practice can pledge to donate a day of eye exam fees, or an amount from every frame sold or eye exam given. Optometry companies can hold staff-led fundraising events, or invite staff to donate throughout October. Simply print out one of these posters or this infographic to hang in your office with an explanation of the cause. Bonus: publicize your donation day on social media!
3. Join the World Sight Day Challenge
Optometry Giving Sight is a global nonprofit that funds sustainable vision care projects in underserved communities. Throughout the years, the nonprofit has funded 72 vision centers in 38 countries. This month, Optometry Giving Sight is calling on all members of the optical community to take part in the World Sight Day Challenge. The Challenge is the largest annual global fundraising campaign to address avoidable blindness caused by the simple need for an eye exam and glasses.
Participation in the Challenge is fun and easy to do, especially now that you can show our “Giving Sight” awareness video through Rendia.
You can let patients and prospective patients know about this initiative by playing the video in your waiting room, embedding it on your website, and even sharing it on your social media pages. It’s that simple! By spreading the word in your practice and beyond, you can help improve vision across the globe.
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