Wills Eye Hospital to offer free vision care for children

Is your child struggling to see the blackboard at school? Here’s how you can get eyes checked for free:

Wills Eye Hospital will once again offer free vision care and screenings for Philadelphia-area children at its annual “Give Kids Sight Day,” scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 7, at its Walnut Street location in Center City, from 8 a.m. to noon.

The event is geared toward helping uninsured and underinsured children, ages 6 to 17, gain access to vision care. Children will get an eye exam and an eyeglass prescription, along with two free eyeglass frames.

“Healthy vision and good eye-care habits start at a young age,” said Julia A. Haller, ophthalmologist-in-chief for Wills Eye Hospital. “By providing health-care access to children in our region, we are setting them up for success later in life.”

Parents and guardians can sign up their children for an appointment online: www.willseye.org/give-kids-sight-day.

“Give Kids Sight Day” is hosted in partnership with Thomas Jefferson University, the School District of Philadelphia, and OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, a charitable organization that believes “good vision is a basic human right.”

During the four-hour event, Wills Eye and Thomas Jefferson University volunteers will screen children’s eyes. Children who don’t pass the screening will get a same-day vision exam and a prescription for eyeglasses. Kids can pick out two free frames, courtesy of EssilorLuxottica. The foundation will also place prescription lenses in the frames, which will be available for pickup at a separate event later in the fall.

To date, the event — now in its 14th year — has provided more than 11,000 children with free eye care services, according to Wills Eye.

“Our mission is to protect and preserve vision, and we feel strongly that all children should have access to basic eye care,” said Joseph P. Bilson, chief executive officer for Wills Eye Hospital.