The road traveled so far

Throughout 2020, OneSight opened 24 new sustainable vision centers that provide local, affordable vision care access to 7.3 million people. This brings the total number of sustainable vision centers to 195, with total vision care access for over 42 million people.

Although the impact of COVID-19 has prompted OneSight to rethink their usual initiatives, the organization has nonetheless carried out several activities – respecting the safety of all participants – with a focus on prevention and awareness.

In April, an Online Vision Check activity was launched to help almost 15,000 people so far. Further examples of this added attention to their processes was seen on World Sight Day, where OneSight collaborated with both the Clearly and IAPB (International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness) associations to create a free digital book for children titled “Through the Looking Glasses: Stories about Seeing Clearly". To mark the launch, an online “Bedtime Stories” event was organized in which celebrities, athletes and authors read the stories in the book to thousands of children across twelve different time zones. During the same period, OneSight hosted vision screening events in several locations in Africa and two charitable clinics: One in New York, USA, where 200 patients were visited, and one in Johannesburg, South Africa, which reached over 100 patients.

Many of the EssilorLuxottica brands, including Oakley, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, Pearle Vision, EyeMed, OPSM and David Clulow, have shown their support for OneSight through dedicated communication campaigns in stores, offices and online. Notably, Oakley created a video with 16 professional athletes to highlight the importance of eye care, sharing it via the brand’s channels.

In China and around the rest of the world, vision check-ups have been successfully organized for employees, alongside active participation initiatives such as “Sweat for Sight”, which raised awareness of physical and mental health and well-being among colleagues in North America, Australia and New Zealand. The “Sweat for Sight” participants dedicated twenty minutes to physical activity every day for twenty days, sharing these moments on social media with the aim of spreading awareness and collecting donations for the organization. Results have been excellent: Over 1,450 hours dedicated to the program and 26,000 US dollars collected, which equates to 2,500 pairs of glasses in Canada and the United States, and almost 15,000 Australian dollars raised with 4,000 visits on the dedicated website in Australia and New Zealand.

In addition, OneSight drove further charitable impact by donating over 250,000 frames for people in need during the pandemic.

OneSight’s charitable programming in 2020 helped more than 13,500 people receive eye exams and glasses, delivered across a range of programming formats including 12 charitable clinics, screening events, and a program to address those negatively impacted by the pandemic in partnership with LensCrafters.

Looking to the future

Among the 2021 goals, OneSight plans to expand its presence in Africa, where important targets have already been achieved in recent years, and work will be done to bring new clinics to different regions, expanding access to eye care as much as possible.

In Australia and New Zealand there are programs dedicated both to children and young adults in metropolitan areas and local indigenous communities. The future goal is to increase the number of clinics and enhance the clinic already operating in East Timor.

In China, there are currently 28 centers dedicated to vision control and care. By 2021, OneSight hopes to increase this figure, with the aim of reaching more rural areas with less services.

In North and Latin America, more work will be done on awareness and partnerships, strengthening existing collaborations and setting up new ones in order to have a more concrete impact on the area. In the United States, OneSight is planning charitable clinics that deliver vision care to under resourced communities in New York City, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Washington D.C., and Kansas City, continuing the charitable work with Native American communities and with migrant communities in Central California and on the Southern border with Mexico. Vision care clinics along frontier areas are also in program along the Thai/Myanmar border.

OneSight is looking ahead to new countries where to expand their sustainable vision center approach, with the aim to reach 20 million more people in the next 5 years.

The Global Ambassador program

Due to the ongoing health emergency and the limitations of global travel, OneSight has relaunched the Global Ambassador program.  In 2021 the Global Ambassadors will help OneSight raise awareness of eye health through fundraising and other initiatives, working with a team of passionate people in their local communities.

OneSight Ambassadors are volunteers who guide their local community both online and in the field: they are the “face” of the association and represent OneSight among colleagues, relatives and friends, inviting them to contribute to the cause. They commit for one year, during which time they are trained and coordinated by OneSight, which provides them with all of the tools necessary for effectively carrying out their duties. Global Ambassadors are required to network both inside and outside the company, to work in teams and to support OneSight’s mission.