By Latrishka Thomas
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For children with vision problems, not having a pair of glasses can lead to failure in the classroom, developmental delays, learning disabilities, social maladjustment, and even juvenile delinquency.
And not everyone has the means to pay for eye tests or glasses.
To assist, Courts Optical is giving less fortunate children between the ages of seven and 17 an opportunity to correct their vision.
Country manager of the company, part of the Unicomer Group, Jason Gilead, is calling on persons to take advantage of the new initiative called “Brighter View” where underprivileged youth get a free eye screening and free glasses.
“We are under-subscribed for our programme. We have more glasses to give out than we have persons who have applied,” Gilead said, making a final appeal for parents to come forward.
He explained that if the programme remains under-subscribed, the initiative could be scrapped locally next year.
“As you know with a lot of these funding initiatives, if you don’t take advantage of them one year you lose that funding forever. It gets reassigned to another country,” he said.
“Brighter View” is aimed specifically at those young people whose parents just cannot afford a pair of glasses.
“If parents can afford glasses, they have insurance etcetera, we expect them to take that opportunity to provide glasses for their children.
“But we know with the pandemic etcetera, so many people are negatively impacted by this. Persons aren’t working or were out of jobs for a very long time. We have so many children who are falling through the cracks because their parents cannot provide the most basic of necessities. Those are persons we are targeting,” he disclosed.
To sign up, parents can visit any of the Courts branches (Friars Hill Rd or Sir Vivian Richards Street) provide their name, the name of their child and their contact information.
Persons can also visit courtsoptical.com/antigua for more information and to fill out an entry form.
