Carla Eamon says she’s raising money next month to help get glasses for people who struggle to access eyecare.
Eamon, an optometrist working out of Kemptville, is running a fundraising event for “World Sight Day,” an annual initiative supporting people in countries where it’s difficult or impossible to get glasses.
“There’s some countries where there are no eye doctors in the entire country,” Eamon says. “We try to provide sustainable solutions where they can continue to function in school or at work.”
Eamon says she’s worked directly to support these people in the past during a trip to Haiti.
“They were just amazed that they could see, and I can remember women just crying because their livelihood was sewing, they do a lot of textiles there,” she explains. “They’re competitive, they have to sew faster than the company down the street, and they couldn’t see because they hit their forties. All of a sudden, we made these women able to see again so they could then earn a living again.”
World Sight Day is October 12th, and Eamon will be donating all her clinic proceeds from that day to help pay for glasses for people in disadvantaged countries.
She’ll also be raffling a pair of Oakley sunglasses and donating the sales, with tickets set to cost $5 each. If you want to take part, it’ll be happening at her clinic on Van Buren Street.