OGS kicks off 2025 World Sight Day Challenge

Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) has announced the launch of its 2025 World Sight Day Challenge, scheduled to take place during the months of September and October. Held in conjunction with World Sight Day, which is observed this year on Oct. 9 and annually on the second Thursday of October, the Challenge aims to support the OGS mission of eradicating uncorrected refractive error through the growth and expansion of optometry around the world.

During the Challenge, optometry practices, optometry student groups, and optometry-related businesses are invited to raise funds for OGS to support its annual grant program. Since its inception, the group advised, OGS has awarded more than $8 million in grants for programs that have provided vision care for more than 15 million people worldwide.

“The World Sight Day Challenge is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” said Donna J. Mikulecky, OGS executive director. “This time of the year, in particular, we see the entire optometry community come together to support the dire need for access to eyecare where it is most needed.

“More than 1 billion people worldwide suffer from vision impairment and blindness simply because they don’t have access to eye exams and eyeglasses,” she added. “The programs we fund provide exams and glasses, but also fund the establishment and development of the optometry profession, so that eyecare is available today and well into the future.”

Challenge participants can choose to sponsor fundraising activities at their offices, schools, and companies and may include activities such as raffles, bake sales, fun runs, office contests, and other activities that can involve patients, colleagues, and the community, the group advised. Other options include hosting an online fundraiser or making a donation. This year, optometry practices and optometry student groups can compete to win OGS’s new Facebook Thumbs-Up Throwdown or highest contributor contest, both sponsored by Dr. Greg Pearl.

To date, OGS has helped establish 14 optometry schools, built 130 vision centers, and trained more than 14,000 optometry professionals—work that has impacted people in more than 50 countries, the group noted.

“Our impact continues to grow each year. But, so does the need,” Mikulecky said. “The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness projects that the number of people suffering vision loss will increase to 1.7 billion people by 2050 unless we invest significantly in vision care.

“We’re fortunate that so many others in the optometry profession want to participate in creating lasting change,” she said. “And we are very grateful for their support. The problem we are all trying to address is huge in scope. But together, we’re making a difference.”

Those interested in participating in the 2025 World Sight Day Challenge can register or learn more at https://www.givingsight.org/wsdc.