Twenty new prescription spectacles were recently handed over to school taxi drivers as part of a new initiative, Vision Drive.
This innovative community project, founded by Michelle Fisher and Shana Cohen, owners of Peers and Fisher Optometries based in Dunkeld West, aims to give taxi drivers eagle vision as they transport community members each day, through providing those in need with prescription spectacles.
Fisher and Cohen told the Gazette that the struggles they perceived in businesses and peoples’ lives as a result of Covid-19 mobilised them to step up in support of community in the best way they knew how – through giving complementary glasses to those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford them.
On hearing of the worthy initiative, others stepped onboard. Brad Fisher of the Supplier Development Initiative and AdReach helped the optometry practice to develop the idea and advertise the initiative on billboards, as did Momba Foundation which works closely with under-serviced communities, through, for example, actively sanitising taxis during the Covid-19 pandemic and working closely with taxi bosses.
The team of 101 Optical have opened up a full test-room for drivers supported by Vision Drive, in Kramerville.
If glasses are needed, there is a two-week wait before prescription glasses are issued. Frames and lenses are donated to Vision Drive by the suppliers Fisher and Cohen have been working with for the past 30 years.
The team behind Vision Drive hope that through offering free prescription spectacles to the drivers, they will be serving both the drivers and the safety of the children who are transported each day. Cohen explained that many of the drivers supported by Vision Drive did not have medical aid and regular check-ups and glasses were often beyond their means.
“We are incredibly excited,” said Fisher, following the first official spectacle handover to taxi drivers. “Right now, we are targeting school taxi drivers but over time, as we identify different areas of need and bring more partners on board, we will increase our scope.”
Both women believed that with the teamwork they have experienced to date, there was no limit to what Vision Drive could achieve.
ALSO READ:
The Base Synagogue and Gauteng Department of Health collaborate for a successful vaccine rollout
The Base Synagogue and Gauteng Department of Health collaborate for a successful vaccine rollout
