“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
As we’ve reflected in recent weeks on these historic words from MLK, we are both proud and thankful to have had the opportunity to start the new year by giving back to our community.
While we are deeply committed to boosting employee wellness through our partnerships with corporate companies, we simultaneously recognize the unmet healthcare need in our school communities. There are many barriers that families face when seeking eye care, including cost and inconvenience. When students lack access to quality eye care - especially those who need vision correction - their ability to learn in the classroom suffers. Our mission at 2020 On-site is to eliminate these barriers through onsite healthcare, where we drive our mobile vision centers directly to students at school, at no cost.
As we shared in a previous blog post, we kicked off 2020, our namesake year, with our “Vision for Boston” initiative. Together with Boston Public Schools, the New England College of Optometry, Boston Medical Center, Prevent Blindness, and Children’s Vision Massachusetts Center, we provided free vision screenings, eye exams, and eyewear to 10,000+ underprivileged children, at no cost to the students or their families. We made 22 school visits, and dispensed 400+ pairs of glasses. For some of these students, our visit was their very first eye exam! Read below to hear some of the stories from the nurses at the schools we serve, and click here to see the program in action on WCVB-TV (ABC Boston).
If you’re a corporate company looking to join this cause, please reach out to us! When you bring 2020 On-site to your company, we use a portion of the proceeds to fuel our philanthropy work.
Stories from Boston Public Schools
“I want to extend a personal thank you for the services you’ve provided for our students at the Umana. I know you’re probably aware that our students don’t always have access to these resources and I’m incredibly grateful for your skills and your time. I was so impressed by the warm and friendly environment you and your team managed to create in our conference room. It makes so much difference to our kiddos when they feel at ease in situations where they’re uncomfortable or nervous. I also want to say thank you to the gentleman who spoke in Spanish with Carlos. Despite being a dual language school, we have many staff and service providers who aren’t able to communicate in Spanish with our students (most of whom speak Spanish as their first language). With Carlos being relatively new to the U.S., speaking in Spanish (especially with a male) was really significant for him.” -Teacher at Umana Academy
"Thank you for yet another amazing experience for us at ACC! Just like last year, around 60% of our kiddos tested ended up needing glasses. Our gratitude for you knows no bounds. Your team of staff is second to none! Thank you for giving our school a better chance at success and wellbeing." - Lauren, School Nurse at BPS/ACC
"We are so grateful to 2020 On-site for all they do for our students. Thank you for being so receptive every time I call to ask a question or make a request. Your responses have made the difference in vision health for many students! Thank you for all the effort and organization that goes into every visit. I appreciate you!" - Patrice, School Nurse at Timilty Middle School
"Thank you so much for coming to the King this year! We are so grateful to be able to provide the opportunity to see clearly to our students!" - The King K-8 Family
"Please tell your team how happy you made this family today. Please come to the McCormack again. Our doors are open to you. Come quickly." - Jonell, Nurse at McCormack Middle School
