Community Corner

Donate Your Unused Glasses for World Sight Day

The Short Hills non-profit organization is asking for residents to check for old glasses to change someone's life.

New Eyes for the Needy is celebrating World Sight Day on Oct. 11 asking residents to take the time to donate their unused glasses to the organization. 

“We encourage everyone to participate in World Sight Day in October by simply taking a look in the back of a drawer or the bottom of a purse to find a pair of used glasses that are no longer needed,”  the executive director of New Eyes for the Needy, Sue Dyckman, said.  “It’s an easy way to observe the day, and an easy way to make a difference in a poor person’s life.”

Residents can send any used eyeglasses and sunglasses to its office at 549 Millburn Avenue in Short Hills during the month of October.

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“Most times, the used eyeglasses we send are the first and only pair of glasses the recipients will ever own,” said Dyckman. “It makes a deep and lasting impact on their lives. Children can succeed at school, adults can find or maintain employment and the elderly can live more independently.”

New Eyes receives used glasses from all over the country through individuals, religious groups, schools, various civic organizations and optician’s offices.

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Volunteers sort the used glasses according to lens and frame type. New Eyes then ships them overseas for distribution in developing countries.

According to the World Health Organization, 285 million people are visually impaired, mostly due to uncorrected refractive errors (meaning no access to eyeglasses). 

Since its founding in 1932, New Eyes has improved the vision of over 7,500,000 people in the United States and 67 countries throughout the world.

For more information about New Eyes and what they do, please visit their website at http://neweyesfortheneedy.org, find them on Facebook or contact them at 973-376-4903.


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