OFF THE FIELD,
20/20
IS THE PERFECT SCORE.
EAGLES EYE MOBILE POWERED BY VISION TO LEARN
Eagles Charitable Foundation (ECF) believes that every child should have access to comprehensive eye care. If vision issues are not corrected at an early age, a child’s growth and overall development could be significantly affected. Studies show that 80% of learning in school is visual. If you can’t see, you can’t read. If you can’t read, you can’t learn. That is why the Eagles Eye Mobile powered by Vision to Learn is out in the community every day providing underserved children with access to eye exams, glasses and follow-up care.
Since 1996, the Eagles Eye Mobile has been making free vision screenings, eye exams and prescription glasses accessible to under-insured and uninsured children in the Greater Philadelphia area. And beginning in 2019, to expand the program’s reach, ECF partnered with Vision to Learn, a nonprofit based in California which provides free eye exams and free eyeglasses to students in low-income communities. The ambitious but achievable goal of the Eagles Eye Mobile powered by Vision to Learn is to ensure every child in the School District of Philadelphia receives the vision care services they need every other year.
PROVIDING VISION CARE IN THE PHILLY REGION SINCE '96.
One in five children has vision problems and 60% of public school students who fail their state-mandated eye screenings do not receive the necessary follow-up care they require. In 1996, the Eagles Eye Mobile set out to correct these problems so that children can achieve academic success while enjoying a positive school experience visiting up to 120 schools annually.
Now, the program has expanded to ensure all students in the School District of Philadelphia will receive the vision care services they need, providing free vision exams, prescription eyeglasses and follow-up care at no cost to children or their families. Children who are diagnosed with a more serious eye issue are then referred to one of the city’s leading healthcare institutions for further analysis and follow-up care. Since 80% of vision problems can be caught by a simple eye exam, ECF, Vision to Learn and its mobile services work to ensure that these issues are tackled early on.
EVERY KID DESERVES EAGLE EYES
Shortly after being selected by the Eagles in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft, Jermaine Mayberry made it clear that he wanted to help area children with their eye care. Before blocking for Eagles legend Donovan McNabb and before the four NFC Championship games that he was part of in Midnight Green, Jermaine suffered from an underdeveloped optic nerve in his left eye as a youth. He knows first-hand how debilitating it can be for a child to suffer from an eye condition. As a result, his desire to help those in need inspired the creation of the Eagles Eye Mobile.
“If you’ve ever seen a child put on glasses for the first time and watched them get excited over seeing the definition of a leaf or words on the blackboard, then you’d know how good it feels for me to give back in this way.”
– Jermaine Mayberry
OUR PARTNER
Vision to Learn, a nonprofit based in California which provides free eye exams and free eyeglasses to students in low-income communities, provides all of the staff and services to operate the Eagles Eye Mobile powered by Vision to Learn.
RESOURCES
