Kiwanis Club of Findlay Partners with EnChroma to Give Color Blind Glasses to Area Children
Findlay, OH – June 29, 2022 – The Kiwanis Club of Findlay has announced a partnership with EnChroma, creators of glasses for color blindness, and will present the first round of the specialized glasses to five area color blind students today during their weekly Club meeting.
The Kiwanis Club of Findlay is the first Kiwanis club in the country to work with EnChroma to help students overcome the learning and everyday challenges posed by color blindness. The Club will distribute glasses to color blind students in Hancock County, Ohio and is actively seeking contributions to purchase as many as possible. It has also teamed with EnChroma to offer a special discount for parents and students who wish to purchase glasses, and for local schools to buy a “kit” of glasses for color blind students to borrow for schoolwork that requires interpreting color-coded information.
“As the principal of Northview Primary School, I feel fortunate that the Findlay Kiwanis Club has made the EnChroma glasses a reality for our students who deal with color blindness,” said Eric Payne. “The impact that these glasses will make on the children and their educations and lives is incredible to imagine. Aside from the joy of seeing our students receive this gift, I can also speak as a parent because two of the three color blind students at Northview who are receiving this opportunity to see in fuller color for the first time are my own sons. My heart is full of excitement to witness my sons seeing the colors we all take for granted for the first time. This project, and the impact it will have on all of the children included, will be immeasurable.”
Photo courtesy of the Hancock County Convention & Visitors Bureau
One in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%) are color blind – 13 million in the US and 350 million worldwide. With 26 schools, and approximately 11,250 students in Hancock County, an estimated 500 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. This can cause “color confusion” and frustration for red-green color blind students when doing schoolwork that contains colors. EnChroma glasses expand the range of colors the color blind can see and make colors more vibrant, clear and distinct.
“Many of the color vision deficient students I see have accepted how they see color and do not realize the existence of a full rainbow of colors. I am so excited to see their reaction when they put the EnChroma glasses on for the very first time. This Kiwanis project is going to benefit so many students. I plan to surprise my own color blind adult son with a pair of EnChroma glasses,” said Susan Eiting, BSN, RN, LSN, school nurse at Riverdale Local Schools in Delaware Township, Ohio.
Photo courtesy of the Hancock County Convention & Visitors Bureau
“Our club is honored to be the inaugural Kiwanis Club to partner with EnChroma,” said Shannan Connelly, Kiwanis Club of Findlay president. “If by doing this, we help a child to learn to their full potential and help them succeed in school, we have fulfilled Kiwanis’s mantra of helping the children of the world, one child at a time. We are truly excited to see how these life changing glasses affect how these children see the world.”
Parents, educators and students seeking information on the glasses and the promotion, or individuals or businesses who wish to donate funds, should contact Connelly at 419.788.2308. Click here for more images depicting how the color blind see the world.
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 color blindness. Over 80 museums, libraries, schools, universities and state and national parks participate in the program. Only 11 of 50 states test school children for color vision deficiency; Ohio does not. For data on the effects of color blindness on learning, click here. Parents and schools can easily test students for color blindness in under two minutes via EnChroma’s free online test located at https://enchroma.com/pages/test.
Special optical filters in EnChroma glasses help the color blind see an expanded range of colors more vibrantly, clearly and distinctly. Recent studies published by world-renowned vision scientists at the University of California, Davis and France’s INSERM Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, and the University of the Incarnate Word, have demonstrated the effectiveness of EnChroma glasses.
About EnChroma
Based in Berkeley, Calif., EnChroma produces leading-edge eyewear for color blindness and low 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.
Media Contacts:
EnChroma
Kent Streeb
Vice President, Communications & Partnerships
P: 530.908.9225
kent@enchroma.com
Kiwanis Club of Findlay
Shannan Connelly
Club President
Cell: 419.788.2308
sconnelly@YourPremierBank.com
Abby Hartman
Club Public Relations Chair
ahartman@firsthospitality.com