eye-care-for-kids-home-pageAfter college I worked as a liaison for a small clinic providing health for migrant farm workers. The experience was educational, to say the least. I was kid from New England who attended college in Indiana and had never seen a camp for migrant farm workers. The houses were tiny and crammed with people. The work was grueling. The poverty, appalling.

One of the cases I handled involved helping a little boy get the glasses he needed to be able to start kindergarten on the fall. His eyesight was very bad. This was evident even without an eye exam. His family didn’t have the money. Neither did the Clinic.

I remember feeling so hopeless because I was running out of options to help the little boy and his family. I went to all of the area agencies and charitable organizations I could think of and was told that there simply were no available funds. It broke my heart to think of a little kid who would be starting school unable to clearly see the blackboard. My throat closes up a little as I write this, remembering my frustration and sadness.

There are thousands of little kids in the same situation today. Many families lack the means to provide essential eye care for their children. Without assistance those children may not receive the care they need. The demand is great and resources limited but we can help change that.

Eye Care for Kids is a 501-c (3) non-profit organization that has provided humanitarian aid to more than 20,000 children for more than six years. Eye Care for Kids helps visually impaired kids from poor and low-income families across the state of Utah (including rural areas and Native American reservations) get the treatment they so desperately need. Eye Care for Kids sees up to 200 children every week.

According to state statistics, as many as 65,000 kids currently need the services that Eye Care for Kids provide free. Not only can this help with education and learning difficulties, it can prevent more serious long-term damage as well.

Eye Care for Kids is the 12 for 12K Challenge charity for the month of July. $25.00 will provide one child with an eye examination and a free pair of glasses. Visit 12 for 12K to donate. It’s easy to do and means the world to a little kid somewhere. Do it today. I did. Use the power of social media to help spread this message and raise needed funds for worthy organizations like this one.

By using the power and outreach of social media – from Twitter to Facebook, blogs to social media newsrooms and more – the 12for12k Challenge will offer our chosen charities as wide an audience as possible.

Will you help too?