Old Glasses Bring New Vision to Those in Need Pearle Vision and Pearle Vision Foundation team with New Eyes For The Needy

    AUSTIN, Texas, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Pearle Vision, together with the
 Pearle Vision Foundation, is asking its customers to donate their old eyewear
 this spring to help those in need.  Each year, less fortunate people go
 without access to proper vision care.  And sometimes the only thing separating
 someone from seeing clearly or not is a pair of eyeglasses.  Pearle Vision and
 the Pearle Vision Foundation are teaming up with New Eyes For The Needy to
 collect used eyeglasses from Austin customers, as part of a nationwide
 eyeglass recycling program.
     "The Pearle Vision Foundation has established a solid relationship with
 New Eyes For The Needy over the last six years, providing grants that have
 reached out to help thousands of people see better," said Dr. Jeff Smith,
 chairman of the Pearle Vision Foundation.  "Now we want to take our
 relationship to the next level by rewarding our customers for supporting this
 worthwhile eyeglass donation program.  We want to touch more lives."
 
     Pearle Rewards Customers who Donate
     In addition to helping the needy, local residents who bring in their
 donation of old eyewear to a participating Pearle Vision store between
 April 25 and June 12 will receive a reward of up to $75 off the purchase of a
 new pair of eyeglasses.
     "We are very, very excited about what this partnership with Pearle Vision
 means:  Hundreds of people will be able to see, that without this eyeglass
 donation program would have continued to be visually impaired," said Susannah
 Likins, executive director of New Eyes For The Needy.  "By working with
 Pearle, we are helping the less fortunate and the poor in a very individual
 and dignified way.  We are removing a handicap and turning lives around by
 providing a simple pair of eyeglasses."
     Founded in 1961 by Dr. Stanley C. Pearle, Pearle Vision is one of the
 nation's leading optical retailers with more than 800 stores in the United
 States, Canada and Puerto Rico.  Pearle Vision is a subsidiary of Cleveland,
 Ohio-based Cole National, a $1 billion optical and gift retailer with a
 combined total of more than 3,000 retail locations.
     The Pearle Vision Foundation was established in 1986 by Pearle Vision,
 Inc., with a mission of "dedication to the preservation of lifetime vision."
 Since its inception, the Foundation has assisted thousands of people with
 treatable or correctable vision disorders and provided grants for research,
 community service and education programs relating to vision.
     New Eyes For The Needy is a non-profit volunteer organization whose main
 purpose is to provide better vision for the poor the world over.  Each year
 New Eyes collects 500,000 pairs of used eyeglasses for the medically indigent.
 Since its inception in 1932, New Eyes has helped more than five million
 visually handicapped people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto
 Rico and many developing nations.
 
 

SOURCE  Pearle Vision