April 2016 – Optelec supported Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH), a nonprofit organization providing eye care services to the needy around the world by donating PowerMag+ hand-held magnifiers to one of their recent missions.

VOSH was started over 40 years ago by Dr. Franklin Harms, an optometrist from Kansas. His idea was to collect used eyeglasses and distribute them to people in other areas of the world where eye care is unavailable. What began as a small local project grew into a global organization with individual state, foreign and student chapters. 

Volunteers of the VOSH- California chapter traveled to the remote towns of Loreto and La Purisima, Mexico, last month. People in this area have to drive for 6 hours in order to be seen by an eye care professional in the closest town! During their stay the volunteers from VOSH examined and provided eye care to 700 patients. The Optelec PowerMags were welcomed by patients with cataracts since it allows them to read easier and be more productive in their daily routines thus allowing them to enjoy a better quality of life. 

If you would like to learn more about VOSH, their work, or how you can support them, please visit their website here.