Adopt-A-School Helps Kids Throughout the United States See Better

Essilor Vision Foundation launched its Adopt-a-School program in 2008 with nine pilot schools in Oregon, California, Florida, New York, and Texas and has expanded the program in 2009 and 2010 to include St. Louis, MO and Atlanta, GA.  Volunteer teams helped school nurses screen students for vision problems and provide free eye exams and glasses to children who could not afford them and did not qualify for Medicaid or S-CHIP.  Teams also educated parents about the importance of good vision and how to care for their children’s eyes. 

Susan McElroy, principal of Grout Elementary in Portland, Oregon, saw the Adopt-a-School program as an amazing opportunity to catch a problem that many parents were unaware of or could not afford to address.  “It will be exciting to see how things change for some of these children with this gift of sight,” she said.  Of the 550 students screened in Oregon, 100 students received new prescription eyeglasses.