Walmart Foundation Awards Grant to New Eyes for the Needy for Glasses for Needy Oklahomans

Nov. 29, 2011 - PRLog -- November 29, 2011, Short Hills, NJ – The Walmart Foundation State Giving Program awarded a $25,000 grant to New Eyes for the Needy to purchase new prescription eyeglasses for children and adults in need in the State of Oklahoma. This is the second State Giving Program grant awarded to New Eyes since 2009.

“We are deeply grateful to the Walmart Foundation for renewing its investment in ‘New Eyes for Oklahoma,’” said Susan M. Dyckman, executive director. “The Foundation’s $25,000 grant will ensure that over 400 children and adults get the prescription glasses they cannot afford on their own. Corrected vision opens doors to education, employment and more independent living for people in need. We thank the Walmart Foundation for its generous commitment to helping Oklahomans in need to begin to build a better life.”

New Eyes purchases glasses through a voucher system that partners New Eyes with 4,000 eyeglass providers across the country. Applicants must apply for assistance through a social service agency or school nurse. Applicants generally have incomes at or below the federal poverty level and are uninsured or have insurance plans that do not pay for eyeglasses. Once an applicant is approved for assistance, he receives a voucher that can be redeemed by any eyeglass provider that is willing to accept New Eyes’ reimbursement rates. New Eyes reimburses the provider directly once the glasses are made.

For more information about New Eyes for the Needy’s program to provide prescription eyeglasses to people in need, visit New Eyes’ website: www.neweyesfortheneedy.org. Applicants must be low income and have had their eyes examined within the past 12 months in order to qualify for the eyeglass voucher program.

About New Eyes for the Needy: New Eyes for the Needy purchases new prescription glasses for poor children and adults in the United States and recycles donated glasses for distribution to indigent people overseas. Since its founding in 1932, New Eyes has helped 7,500,000 in the U.S. and around the world to see clearly.

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Founded in 1932, New Eyes for the Needy works to improve the vision of the poor by purchasing new prescription eyeglasses for disadvantaged children and adults in the U.S. and recycling donated glasses for distribution to indigent people overseas.