The eyeglass collection and distribution program has been an important Rayjon initiative for many years.  Each year, the Rayjon Eyeglass Team runs volunteer clinics to developing nations in the Caribbean and Latin America including Haiti, Belize, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala.

Throughout Ontario, various community locations including optometrist offices, churches and schools, place donation boxes in which people can donate their used eyeglasses.  The donated glasses are collected by members of the Eyeglass Team, sorted and cleaned. Two members of the team read the prescription of each pair of clean eyeglasses with Automatic Lensometers, purchased with donated funds.  Each pair of glasses are bagged and properly labelled with their prescription and are stored until Rayjon’s eyeglass workshop that takes place each June in the Bayside Mall. Working in the mall is a great opportunity for Rayjon volunteers to connect with and educate members of the Sarnia community about Rayjon’s initiatives in the developing world and the eyeglass program.

This year, 63 volunteers participated in the workshop at Sarnia’s Bayside Mall.  The workshop ran on June 28 and 29 from 9 AM-6 PM. Volunteers entered the prescription data for each pair of glasses into databases in several laptop computers.  The data was then printed and proofread and the boxes of glasses are now ready to be taken on the Eyeglass Trip, which will occur during the first week of November this year.

This year’s team of 24 members will be travelling to Rabinal, Guatemala, a rural area 175 KM north of Guatemala City, to operate Rayjon’s 27th clinic. This region was battered by Guatemala’s civil war that ended in 1996 leaving behind 3500 widows and many orphans.  The Rayjon Eyeglass Team is very excited to have the opportunity to work with this community!

Please get involved by donating your old prescription eyeglasses. Please click to view a list of drop off points.

The contact person for the Rayjon Eyeglass Program is Joanne Atkinson.  Please be in contact with her for more information about how you can get involved with this program!

Celine Mcgarvey
Youth Representative of Eyeglass Program

This summer the Rayjon Youth Committee took the opportunity to get involved with Rayjon’s Red Bud Event, which was held at Degroot’s Nurseries this past June.

We as a committee came together to organize and host an outdoor BBQ at Degroot’s during the Red Bud week to raise additional funds for Rayjon, and the turn out couldn’t have been better!  We had great weather, amazing volunteers, and raised just over $350!

It was a fun day for all our youth volunteers and great thanks goes out to everyone who helped out- it is always appreciated!

Overall, the event was a success and perhaps will come around again next summer.

Thank you for your support!

Kim Stevens
Event Facilitator, Youth Committee