EnChroma and Lions Club to Give Color Blind Glasses to Military Service Members on Veterans Day

– Color Blind Vets to See Colors of the Flag for First Time and Experience Exhibits at JFK Special Warfare Museum in Color with EnChroma Glasses –

Fort Bragg, NC & Berkeley, CA – November 9, 2021 – EnChroma – creators of glasses for color blindness – and the Fayetteville Community Lions Club 31N – today announced that they will give color blind veterans and active duty military personnel EnChroma glasses for color blindness on Veterans Day to thank them for their service. EnChroma also donated a set of EnChroma glasses to the JFK Special Warfare Museum at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, so color blind visitors can experience the Museum’s exhibits, and colorful outdoors, in color.

“Veterans and military service members who are color blind cannot see the red stripes in the very flag they protect,” said Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma. “We are proud to donate our glasses to the JFK Special Warfare Museum and show our appreciation to veterans.”

Independent of this donation, EnChroma has partnered with the Fayetteville Lions Club to donate fifty pairs of EnChroma glasses to veterans and active duty troops to pay homage to those who serve our country. Interested parties can contact the Lions Club.

One in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%) are color blind – 13 million in the US and 350 million worldwide. With nearly 19 million veterans, and over two million active duty and reserve service members in the US, approximately one million are color blind.

While people with normal color vision see over one million shades of color, the color blind only see an estimated 10% of hues and shades. To them, green and yellow, gray and pink, purple and blue, and red and brown look similar, and colors appear muted and dull. EnChroma glasses expand the range of colors the color blind can see and make colors more vibrant, clear and distinct.

“Lions North Carolina has been working closely with EnChroma for some time now to introduce color blindness testing in schools in our state and to get color blind schoolchildren these glasses,” said Mayra McCloud, Fayetteville Community Lions Club 31N and North Carolina State Chair of the Committee for Technology for the Visually Impaired. “Many Lions served in the military, so we take particular pride in being able to help our fellow veterans who are color blind access the colorful world around them, and overcome everyday obstacles, by giving them EnChroma glasses.” 

Visitors seeking more information on the glasses and promotion should contact Mayra McCloud, Fayetteville Community Lions Club at (931) 252-8147. This promotion does not imply any endorsement by the US Department of Defense (DOD) or the US Army.

EnChroma Color Accessibility Program

EnChroma is the lead advocate for “color accessibility” through its EnChroma Color Accessibility Program. The program helps public venues, museums, schools, state parks, libraries, and other organizations purchase and loan EnChroma glasses to color blind students and guests to help make schoolwork that involves color, colorful exhibits, attractions and/or experiences accessible to those with CVD. Schools can test students, and parents can test their children, for color blindness in under two minutes via EnChroma’s free online test located at https://enchroma.com/pages/test.

On Veterans Day, the JFK Special Warfare Museum will be open to the public, which will have the opportunity to borrow EnChroma glasses to see colors outdoors and in the exhibits. The Museum is the first military museum in the world to accommodate guests with Color Vision Deficiencies (CVD).

DATE & TIME: 9:30am-4pm EST, November 11, Veterans Day 

LOCATION: JFK Special Warfare Museum, 2815 Ardennes Street, 

Fort Bragg, NC. Phone: (910) 432-4272

Special optical filters in EnChroma glasses help the color blind see an expanded range of colors more vibrantly, clearly and distinctly. A recent study by the University of California, Davis, and France’s INSERM Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, demonstrated the effectiveness of EnChroma glasses. 

About EnChroma

Based in Berkeley, Calif., EnChroma produces leading-edge eyewear for color blindness and low vision, and other solutions for color vision, sold online and through Authorized Retailers worldwide. Invented in 2010, EnChroma’s patented eyewear combines the latest in color perception, neuroscience and lens innovation to improve the lives of people with color vision deficiency around the world. EnChroma received an SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It earned the 2016 Tibbetts Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration in recognition of the firm’s innovative impact on the human experience through technology, and the 2020 Innovation Award in Life Sciences from the Bay Area’s East Bay Economic Development Alliance. For more information call 510-497-0048 or visit enchroma.com.

Kent Streeb
Director of Public Relations and Partnerships
P: 530.908.9225
kent@enchroma.com

JFK Special Warfare Museum
Roxanne M. Merritt
Director
910-432-1533
roxanne.merritt@socom.mil

Fayetteville, North Carolina, Community Lions Club 31N
Mayra McCloud
US Army, Retired
North Carolina State Chair, Committee for Technology for the Visually Impaired
Cell: 931-252-8147
madmayra@googlemail.com