Campers given free glasses
WEST MILFORD. Three organizations combine to provide vision testing and eyeglasses to those at Camp Vacamas and 12 other sites.
| 26 Jul 2023 | 07:33
Paige Bonilla tries on a new pair of glasses Wednesday, July 26 at Camp Vacamas in West Milford. Helping her is John Jonas, co-president of Jonas Philanthropies. (Photos by Kathy Shwiff)
Optician Floyd Patterson of Vauxhall holds up a mirror for Haile Thomas to see herself wearing new glasses.
John Jonas, co-president of Jonas Philanthropies, adjusts a new pair of glasses for Ruben Benitez at Camp Vacamas in West Milford on Wednesday, July 26.
John Jonas adjusts a new pair of glasses on a camper.
Optician Floyd Patterson holds up a mirror for Maxim Reyes to see his new glasses.
Optician Floyd Patterson helps fit new glasses on Jasayra Gonzalez.
Optician Floyd Patterson helps fit new glasses on a camper.
Nearly 40 campers received new eyeglasses Wednesday, July 26 at Camp Vacamas in West Milford.
Jonas Philanthropies and Vision to Learn were joined by Warby Parker this year, the third year of the program, which tests the eyesight of children from low-income communities and provides free prescription glasses to whoever needs them.
The glasses are being presented at Hands in 4 Youth Camp Vacamas and 12 other camps in New Jersey.
Jonas Philanthropies more than doubled the donation it made last year, and Warby Parker, which sells glasses online and in stores, provided the glasses. Warby Parker has a company goal of giving away one pair of glasses for each pair sold, John Jonas told the campers Wednesday.
The partnership of Jonas Philanthropies’ Vision Health program and Vision to Learn was expected to provide 1,770 vision screenings, 533 exams and 453 glasses this summer. In addition to Camp Vacamas, children at camps in Newark, Paterson, Passaic, Jersey City, Hoboken, Union, Garfield and Plainfield will benefit from the program.
Vision disability is the single most prevalent disabling condition among children in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, interfering with their ability to learn and holding them back socioeconomically.
When children were cut off from access to vision health programs provided at school during the pandemic, Jonas Philanthropies and Vision to Learn created an alternative by bringing mobile clinics to summer programs in New Jersey.