Vision program gets kids glasses

For years, I’ve talked about buying cheap prescription lenses and frames online at prices starting as low as $12 (including shipping).

But what if you could take that price down to zero dollars?

Vision To Learn is a nonprofit organization that offers free eye exams and free prescription eyeglasses to students in low-income communities and Title I schools.

The non-profit, which was founded in 2012, has served more than 92,000 kids in 180 communities across the country from Baltimore to Honolulu.

Right now, Vision To Learn is active in nine states, in

cluding Georgia. This is great news for Georgia kids.

About 1.5 million U.S. children don’t have the glasses they need to be successful in the classroom or when reading at home, according to Vision To Learn.

Moreover, an estimated 95 percent of first graders who would benefit from glasses don’t have access to them.

The primary reason? Money.

Some families simply can’t afford glasses for their kids. But making due without glasses can start a vicious cycle of bad grades, low self-esteem and behavioral problems.

Thankfully, Vision To Learn offers a solution! Here’s how it all works

Schools screen children to identify students with vision problems. Vision To Learn’s mobile clinic then visits the schools with optometrists and opticians to conduct eye exams. Following the exam, the kids get to pick out their frames. Within three weeks, the kids have their new glasses in hand and are ready to learn again.

If you’d like Vision To Learn to visit your child’s school, contact the organization at 1-800-485-9196 or by sending a note to mail@visiontolearn.org.