Bipartisan Allies Join Forces to Meet Kids’ Vision Needs

During Healthy Vision Month leaders will celebrate Vision To Learn helping 200,000 kids

On May 16, 2019, in celebration of healthy vision month, a bipartisan coalition of Senators led by Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) and Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) recognized the national nonprofit organization, Vision To Learn, with a Senate resolution celebrating the important milestone of their helping 200,000 kids.

Read the unanimously approved Senate Resolution here »

The Senators will join the organization at 12:00 PM May 16, 2019 at the Hart Senate Office Building, Room 902, for a luncheon designed to bring people together to solve real problems for kids in every state.

“Vision To Learn’s program demonstrates every day that the problem of students who lack needed glasses is serious, sweeping – and solvable,” said Senator Chris Coons. “In Delaware, and across the nation, Vision To Learn’s mobile clinic travels to schools and helps thousands of kids who would otherwise go without.”

“As one of the most rural states in the nation, many Iowans have limited access to eye care, with the nearest optometrist being as far as 50 miles away for some families,” said Senator Joni Ernst. “That’s why I’m so appreciative of the tremendous success of Vision To Learn in providing our children greater access to eye care by bringing eye exams directly to our local schools. I’m proud to join my Democratic colleague Senator Chris Coons of Delaware in putting forward our bipartisan resolution to recognize and celebrate Vision To Learn’s success in helping more than 200,000 children across our nation, including thousands of kids in Iowa.”

About one in five kids will naturally need glasses to see the board, read a book, or participate in class. In low-income communities across the country, 95% of kids who need glasses, about 2,000,000 in total, do not have them.

Vision To Learn was founded in Los Angeles to fill this important gap in the system and better deliver services directly to children, making sure every child has the glasses he or she needs to succeed in school and in life. Its mobile clinics solve the problem by bringing eye exams and glasses, free of charge, to children at schools in low-income communities.

“Vision To Learn is honored to receive this recognition, and thanks Senator Chris Coons and Senator Joni Ernst,” said Vision To Learn Founder Austin Beutner. “With their tireless support, Vision To Learn has helped over 200,000 students succeed in school, and in life.”

Vision To Learn is the largest provider of this service across the country with mobile clinics visiting schools in more than 300 cities from Baltimore to Honolulu.

In 2017 Mark Zuckerberg announced on Facebook that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative would support Vision To Learn and help it grow. With CZI’s support the organization last year celebrated 100,000 kids served, and in one year since was able to double the kids helped to reach 200,000.

Jim Shelton, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and most recently head of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s education division, will also speak at the luncheon designed to bring together leaders and break barriers to bring services to kids.