Pay it Forward: Children’s Vision Foundation

For most kids, they learn by what they see. But what happens if a childs vision is impaired?

“Eighty percent of a child’s learning is done visually, and somewhere between 25-30 percent of our students can’t see well,” said Julie Bibler, director of the Children’s Vision Foundation.

Bibler, along with dozens of volunteers, go into local schools and conduct vision screenings on 3,000 to 5,000 students every year.

“By identifying those students, and by getting that information to their families and their schools, it can make a huge difference,” Bibler said.

The kids don’t mind a little visual challenge, and understand why they’re going through this.

“This is so we can see! And they’ll know if we need glasses,” said one student at Three Sisters Adventist Christian School.

State Rep. Gene Whisnant has been working with Bibler, and together, the two went to Salem with a plan.

“The bill that Julie helped me pass almost unanimously in the House was a bill that says children that are entering the Oregon public school system have to have proof that they’ve had a visual exam or a visual screening,” Whisnant said.

Whisnant nominated Bibler for this month’s Pay it Forward. On behalf on Mid-Oregon Credit Union, Co-Energy Propane and NewsChannel 21, Julie Bibler and the Children’s Vision Foundation receives $500.

“This is a total surprise! I had no clue!” Bibler said when we surprised her this week.

It costs about $10 per student to get the tests done, so this money will go a long way.

Bibler says none of this would be possible without all the help.

“This is an effort of a lot of people coming together to say, ‘This is an important thing — we need to take care of our children’s vision,” she said.

For more information visit childrensvisionfoundation.org

And if you’d like to nominate a group or person for our Pay it Forward series, click on the contest tab on the home page, or go here directly.