Glazer Foundation offers free eye exams and glasses

Posted Sep 24, 2010 by Ronnie Blair

Updated Sep 24, 2010 at 10:59 AM

Parents of children with vision problems, take note. Harry Potter’s magic – and his eyeglasses – may be an ally.

When the Glazer Foundation Vision Mobile parked at Bayonet Point Middle School this week, more than 30 needy children from elementary and middle schools in west Pasco County showed up for free eye exams and glasses.

A few children weren’t enthusiastic about the fashion statement their eyewear would make, while others, such as 11-year-old Joseph Kenny, expressed excitement about the opportunity to wear glasses.

For many children, glasses have shed their nerdy image and now have a certain cachet that they previously didn’t, school nurse Lynn Landseadel said.

Thank Harry Potter, the heroic young wizard in books and movies whose spectacles are a key part of his image, she said.

“It’s nice to have a role model in film who wears glasses,” Landseadel said.

Whether Harry is responsible or not, Joseph’s mother, Yvonne Debottis, said she was surprised but happy with her son’s upbeat attitude about his new glasses.

The Vision Mobile isn’t finished in Pasco County. It heads to Cox Elementary in Dade City next week to help more children whose vision problems were revealed in routine school screenings, but whose families can’t afford the exams and glasses.