Plea for used eyeglasses for Haiti sees big community response

When Magda Peck, Sc.D., went to pick up her eyeglasses recently at the UNMC Physicians’ Optical Center on campus, she talked about how nice it would be if people could donate their old eyeglasses to be sent to Haiti.

The eyeglass collections team includes (from left right) Rosemary Nolan, Megan O’Riley, Lori Cervantes and Shae Wilson.

The remark from the College of Public Health associate dean was all Lori Cervantes and her team needed to hear. They took their plea to members of the local media, some of whom ran the news.

Within a week the Optical Center had received almost 300 pairs of eyeglasses and they expect more will come. One woman from California saw the announcement in the Council Bluffs Nonpareil newspaper and called the Optical Center saying she worked at the Weil Medical Center in San Carlo and that she will be sending two years worth of saved old eyeglasses.

“It’s really amazing how many glasses we get every day, from people on campus through distribution, in the mail, and from UPS,” Cervantes said. “We came to work the other day and there was a bag hanging on the door with eyeglasses in it. It’s wonderful. This is our way of helping.”