This afternoon I sent a pair of children's eyeglasses to NEW EYES. New Eyes improves the vision of poor children and adults by purchasing new eyeglasses in the United States and recycling donated glasses for distribution in developing nations worldwide. Since its founding in 1932, New Eyes has improved the eyesight of more than 7,500,000 people in the U.S. and around the world. Each new pair of glasses provided by New Eyes "can help a child succeed in school, an adult secure a job, or a senior citizen read medicine labels and live more independently."
I discovered New Eyes a few years ago when I was looking for something constructive to do with a pair of tiny pale pink wire frames belonging to my daughter, Adina. Adina, now four and a half, got those pink eyeglasses, her first pair, when she was fifteen months old. Adina was born with nystagmus, an involuntary eye movement disorder that results in reduced vision. Adina's eyes constantly rotate back and forth, like a pendulum, and while the glasses do not cure her nystagmus, they do ensure that her vision is corrected to the maximum level possible.
There are many more pairs of glasses in Adina's future. And each time she gets a new pair, I plan to send the old ones to New Eyes. I am grateful to New Eyes for giving me and Adina a way to contribute to the improving the lives and visions of others. And, rather big bonus I know, every time I put a pair of Adina's glasses in the mail, I get to think of Jake Gyllenhaal ...
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