Dubbo Specsavers is celebrating seven years of supporting the Fred Hollows Foundation, with the community raising over $12,000 in that time to help close the gap in Indigenous eye health.
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To mark the anniversary of their partnership, the company has launched limited edition frames to raise awareness for the foundation, with this year's frame featuring the artwork of contemporary Aboriginal artist, Sarrita King.
Dubbo Specsavers optometrist, Yvonne O'Sullivan said $25 from each pair sold goes to the Fred Hollows Foundation to help carry on Fred's vision and save people's sight and support funding an Orthoptist and Aboriginal Eye Health coordinator at the Outback Eye Service in NSW.
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"The Outback Eye Service delivers much needed eyecare service to rural and remote communities in western NSW that are critically under-funded, under-equipped and under-staffed," she said.
"It delivers critical services like vision and eye health screenings as well as procedures and treatments for conditions including diabetic retinopathy.
"Also, through intensive surgery days, they address the backlog of patients waiting of sight restoring cataract surgery."
According to Specsavers it's estimated that over 18,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults over the age of 40 are currently living with vision impairment or blindness. However, over 90 per cent of the eye problems that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults experience are preventable or treatable.
"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are three times more likely to have vision loss or blindness than other Australians, and we want that to change," Ms O'Sullivan said.
"We're proud to support programs that are addressing some of the key issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples when it comes to improving eye health and vision, and we want the community to come on this journey with us.
"We can't thank the community enough for their continued support, but there is still work to be done to close the eye health gap."
The artwork featured on the frames is called Lightning, representing the memory of the electrical storms in the tropical climate of Darwin where Ms King spent her youth.
This painting captures the subtle beauty within the storm and the way in which the elements gracefully twist and turn between the dramatic lightning strikes. The lightning would crack across the entire sky, creating lines like cracked earth. Ms King said she would discover new patterns and colours every time she witnessed these natural light shows.
The frames are available in store in Dubbo from July 7.
