Ramona optometrist joins World Sight Day Challenge

Optometrist Susan T. Cervantes of Ramona Eye Care is joining the World Sight Day Challenge during the month of October to help give the gift of vision to people in developing countries.

On World Sight Day, Oct. 13, Dr. Cervantes will donate half of her eye exam fees to help provide eye exams and glasses to children in developing countries who can’t see well enough to learn at school, as well as adults who don’t see well enough to provide for their families.

Optometry Giving Sight, organizer of the World Sight Day Challenge, funds programs that provide eye exams and glasses, trains eye care professionals and develops vision centers that deliver vision care to people in desperate need. According to the organization, 670 million people are blind or vision impaired simply because they don’t have access to an eye examination and glasses.

“I have supported Optometry Giving Sight for two years and am proud to donate to such a worthwhile cause,” said Cervantes. “It’s easy for us to take good vision for granted, so taking the World Sight Day Challenge is a great way to raise funds to help people who don’t have access to even basic vision care.”

Donations will enable Optometry Giving Sight to fund more programs that provide eye exams and glasses to millions of people in need. The money will be directed to projects in 16 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Dr. Cervantes also invites her patients to make a donation at Ramona Eye Care throughout the year. Just $5 can provide an eye examination and a pair of glasses for someone in a developing country, she said.

According to Optometry Giving Sight, 85 percent of all funds raised by optometrists and their patients go directly to programs that give sight to those most in need.

Ramona Eye Care is at 1662 Main St., Suite B, in the Stater Bros. Center and may be contacted at 760-788-3622.

For more information about Optometry Giving Sight and the World Sight Day Challenge, visit www.givingsight.org.