Santa Barbara Vision Care (SBVC), a local health program that serves as part of nonprofit SEE International’s domestic programs, just completed its third annual Children’s Sight Week. The event provided 1,832 children with vision screenings, as well as 54 comprehensive eye exams. Each of the young patients also received new sunglasses to ensure they protect their eyes.

All services provided by SEE’s SBVC are completely free of charge.

For children, proper eyesight is essential to doing well in school. When a child is having trouble seeing, it can significantly impact his/her learning. Poor vision can prevent children from focusing on reading and seeing the board at school; poor vision leads to poor performance in school.

Children’s eyes are rapidly changing, just like they are, so it’s important they get regular eye exams. SEE’s Children’s Sight Week ensures children in the Santa Barbara community and surrounding areas are starting the school year with good vision.

Montecito Bank & Trust, the event’s lead sponsor, marked its third year supporting Children’s Sight Week. Other sponsors included Mission Wealth, Impulse Advanced Communications, BMW Santa Barbara, and CenCal Health.

Supporting partners Santa Barbara Home Improvement Center, Mullen & Henzell LLP, Goleta Lions Club, Goleta Valley Optical, and Blue Planet Eco-Eyewear also joined in to make this the most successful Children’s Sight Week yet.

More information about SEE International’s Santa Barbara Vision Care can be found at www.seeintl.org/sbvcp/.

SEE International is a global organization dedicated to ending avoidable blindness everywhere. SEE’s medical volunteers work in more than 40 countries every year, providing critical vision care to underserved populations, free of charge to the patient.

Since 1974, SEE has examined more than 4 million patients, and performed more than half a million sight-restoring surgeries. Visit www.seeintl.org.

Santa Barbara Vision Care provides underinsured individuals in Santa Barbara County, and its surrounding areas, with free comprehensive eye exams, glasses, medicine, and essential eye surgeries for eye conditions such as cataracts and pterygium. Visit www.seeintl.org/sbvcp/.

— Matthew Wheeler for Santa Barbara Vision Care.