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Two Broad Run highschoolers have created a charity that has helped hundreds of people with impaired vision.
Sisters Ria Kaith, 16, and Siya Kaith, 14, are Broad Run High School students who had an idea to help others in need. In 2019, they created On The Bright Sight, a charity aiming to provide prescription glasses to those who can’t afford them or may not have access to an optometrist.
“I have very bad eyesight. I’ve had glasses since I was in kindergarten and because my vision is so bad, the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is grab my glasses. I quickly realized what a necessity glasses are for people, and that’s where the idea started,” Ria Kaith said.
The Kaith sisters began reaching out to neighbors, family members, and friends asking them to put On The Bright Sight donation boxes in their offices and stores to create a widespread movement across several states.
The outside of each donation box provides the mission statement of On The Bright Sight. “Our mission is to collect used glasses and provide them to people in need. The collected glasses will be cleaned, packaged, and sent to developing nations to provide for people who cannot afford proper vision care. With your donations and our awesome teams we can bring a brighter sight to all.”
Once the unused old prescription glasses are collected from the donation boxes, the sisters clean each pair and send the glasses to Lens Crafters, which distributes the glasses to those in need. The sisters also give donated glasses to doctors who travel around the world to places like Africa and India, reaching those in need thousands of miles away.
“Glasses are expensive, especially if you go to places like India. A lot of these people are living off of $1 a day. They don’t have the resources to get prescriptions and go to the doctor to get glasses,” Ria Kaith said.
Ria and Siya Kaith hope to continue to grow the charity by receiving more donations, helping many more in need of a better vision.
“I have such a privilege having access to glasses every single day. Everybody takes life for granted and unless it’s taken away from you, you don’t realize how much you rely and need it,” Siya Kaith said.
“I want people to think about their own stories and think about the contacts they put in their eyes or the glasses they grab off of their nightstand every single morning. Think about the people who don’t have access to that and understand that we are living such a privileged life. It takes seconds to drop glasses into a box,” Ria Kaith said.
The charity has donated more 400 pairs of old prescription glasses.
Donations may be made at the Lens Crafters store in the Dulles Town Center Mall.
For more information, email [email protected] .
Olivia Ausnehmer is a rising junior at Penn State interning at Loudoun Now. SHARE ONWhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedInGoogle+Pin ItEmailBuffer Related
What a lovely initiative on the part of Ria Kaith & Siya Kaith. Fortunately, I can get by with generic $5 readers from a hardware store. But goodness knows how long that will last. It’s nice to know charitable programs such as this one exist. Happy Eye Exam Month Loudoun!
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