RE-SPECS: Helping Israelis See Light after October 7 Darkness

December 12, 2024

by: Amelie Botbol ~ JNS

Thursday, 12 December 2024 | “The first time that we took part in the mass distribution of thousands of free eyeglasses for soldiers and evacuees was in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on Israel,” Chana Simon, chief operating officer of the RE-SPECS nonprofit organization, told JNS recently.

For years, she was involved in the collection of toys and children’s furniture for the needy. The activity required a tremendous amount of storage space, leading her to rethink her charity work.

“A visiting family member from Australia mentioned that every year he was getting new glasses for free through private insurance. I asked, ‘What happens to last year’s glasses?’ and the light bulb turned on,” Simon said.

“I realized that this could be a resource that we could collect for people in need. I found out that no one in Israel was doing this.”

In 2008, Simon started a home-based charity and called up social services to send people in need to her house so that they could choose frames off her dining table. In 2012, she founded RE-SPECS.

“In those early days, I thought we’d only be getting used frames, but over the years that has been eclipsed by donations of surplus stock,” she said. “We are getting surpluses from places including Hawaii, Canada, Australia, France and Israel.”

Frames, Simon explained, are only one of three prerequisites for providing people with a vision-correction product.

“We have paid and volunteer staff who are either optometrists or dispensing opticians. We also work with various labs. This allows those who come to us to get full service—starting from the paramedical act of professional eye testing, all the way to receiving their order within a few days,” she added.

While children under the age of eight in Israel receive a free pair of glasses once a year through health insurance, parents still feel the financial burden of providing their kids with corrective eyewear, she explained.

“The free pair might not be completely free. It depends on the optician and the prescription. Very often, people will be asked to add to the cost of the subsidized pair, or will be limited with their frame choice,” Simon said.

“There are several other reasons why parents run out of choices. Kids might break their glasses; their subscriptions might change. We had a family from the Jerusalem area phoning the other day for a three-year-old who went through glasses eight times a year,” she continued.

“They have seven kids and they are not earning enough to bring themselves above the poverty line. This is one of the sectors whose needs we can fill, even if they are entitled to benefits once a year,” Simon said.

Since October 7, 2023, RE-SPECS has assisted thousands of evacuees from southern and northern Israel as well as soldiers with corrective eyewear.

“There are many people, who following the October 7 attacks, left their homes without most of their possessions, and that included glasses. Soldiers can only get glasses through the army once during their service,” Simon said.

Since October 7, Simon and her staff have been meeting patients at the RE-SPECS clinic in Ra’anana, north of Tel Aviv, or in mobile pop-ups they set up in places such as Petach Tikvah, Rosh Ha’ayin, Netanya, Rehovot, Beit Shemesh and Bnei Brak.

“Initial inquiries are taken via WhatsApp and uploaded to access paperwork to verify the person’s identity. We send them options and then send the glasses to distribution centers across the country managed by volunteers. It could be a jewelry store that agreed to distribute glasses for soldiers,” she said.

Simon discussed the challenge of finding more professional staff. “There are very few qualified optometrists. There are only two schools in the country that train 50 qualified optometrists a year.

“We also need donors to fund glasses for those in need—low-income families, Holocaust survivors, the elderly and those with disabilities,” she continued.

“Limited access to corrective eyewear can affect children’s studies or an adult’s ability to function and work. It’s a basic need, which we hope that by expanding our donor base and our operations, we will fill,” Simon said.

Posted on December 12, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on December 9, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

Photo Credit: Courtesy/jns.org