As an ophthalmology resident at the University of Iowa about 10 years ago, Dr. Jeffrey Lynch had the opportunity to participate in a mission trip to Peru. While collecting donated used eye glasses for trips like this had been relatively easy, he came to realize the real struggle was in connecting those who needed prescription glasses with the donations.
"There were so many different types of prescriptions and there’s certain cultural aspects of what types of glasses are considered acceptable," he explained. "The combination of those two things made it hard to connect the donated glasses to the people who needed them using the traditional eyeglass recycling model. I just knew there was a better way to do it."
That better way, Lynch thought, was by using a website that could be used to facilitate the redistribution of donated glasses to those in need. Fast forward a few years and now an ophthalmologist specializing in pediatric ophthalmology at Associated Eye Care in the St. Paul, Minn. area, Lynch decided to launch his website idea and ReSpectacle was born.
What is ReSpectacle?
ReSpectacle is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that collects donated prescription eyewear from community members and then uses the internet to distribute them to underserved communities. According to Lynch, ReSpectacle receives donations from all over the U.S. that are either mailed or dropped off at one of the organization's 21 chapters across the country.
One of ReSpectacle's many happy international recipients of donated eyewear.
All eyewear donations are cleaned and categorized by ReSpectacle volunteers based on prescription, color, size, gender, and other characteristics. The volunteers also photograph each pair and write up a description, all of which is uploaded into ReSpectacle's database. Currently, ReSpectacle has about 21,000 pairs of donated glasses in its database.
Visitors to the site can then search for glasses with a variety of filters, including their prescription. "The website has a search algorithm that will try to find them the closest match to their prescription entered," Lynch explained. "Sometimes we have a perfect match and other times we have some that are close, but not perfect. The algorithm will assign a percentage match to each one so people can have an idea of how good they would be."
While patients themselves can search for glasses on the site, Lynch said it can also be used as a resource for all eye care providers. "If an ophthalmologist or optometrist is sitting in the lane with a patient who may have this need, it’s a resource for them that they can access quickly, search and order in under a minute or two and we take care of the rest," he added.
After selecting a pair of glasses, ReSpectacle users can either have them mailed to them free-of-charge or if there is a chapter in their area, they can opt to search through their inventory and then pick them up.
In addition to shipping out glasses individually to patients, ReSpectacle also provides eye glasses to U.S.-based mission groups. To date, Lynch said ReSpectacle has given out about 6,000 pairs of glasses domestically and about another 2,500 internationally.
Strong Volunteer Base
Volunteers from ReSpectacle's Portland chapter.
To keep ReSpectacle running, Lynch has at least 400 registered volunteers. Because most of the 21 ReSpectacle chapters are located at academic medical centers, he said they have a constant stream of new volunteers each year that are usually third or fourth year medical students interested in ophthalmology.
"We have a constant flow of new volunteers and some of them really enjoy it," Lynch said. "And as they move on in their medical education or training in ophthalmology, they often go to a new city and that’s how most of our new chapters are formed."
Additionally, some of the local chapters also have high school students and children of adult volunteers come in and help out on occasion.
According to Lynch, the local chapters have also been creative in how they've used their inventory of donated glasses. For instance, last month the Iowa City chapter took part in a local free medical clinic by handing glasses out to patients after they had a free eye exam. And the Portland chapter at the Casey Eye Institute distributes ReSpectacle glasses through its eye care outreach van.
A Rewarding Project
Looking to the future, Lynch anticipates ReSpectacle will continue to grow organically as there's demand for it and as long as they have funding for it.
For those interested in becoming a ReSpectacle volunteer, Lynch said to contact your nearest ReSpectacle chapter, a list of which can be found on their website. And the website also has information if you would like to make an eyewear or financial donation.
Overall, Lynch said ReSpectacle has been a rewarding project that has been exciting to watch grow. "There’s a lot of rewarding things that come with a charitable organization like this, particularly when you can really help out someone who might not otherwise have had the means to get life-changing improvements in their vision," he continued. "And these things can have a dramatic impact on people’s educational opportunities, their employment opportunities, their productivity, their quality of life in general. Sharp vision is something a lot of people in the U.S. take for granted until you’re one of those people who does not have access to glasses."
MD Spotlight takes a look at what interesting and unique things ophthalmologists do outside of their practice, from hobbies to community work. If you'd like to be considered for a future MD Spotlight or would like to nominate someone, contact OWeb's Content Director Corrie Pelc at [email protected].