7-22-08
Our day started at the Diner I-84 where we all happily sacrificed and artery. We opened the doors and walked the red carpet to dessert heaven, AKA pastry display.
After breakfast we jumped back in the caravan of cars and were off to day 2 of production where we collectively manufactured 158 pairs of mission ready glasses in 4 hours. Bumping this weeks total to 358. We even had an Eyemed team member edging!! We sure do have some great trainers!!!
After at no less than 5 trips to the smallest airport on the east coast, 1 lost bag, 2 local diners, one Luau later we finally arrived at Project Morry’s camp. A beautiful spot on the New York and PA border where there is no cell service, and surprisingly we are all happy about it.
We were welcomed with smiling faces, open arms and very big hearts. Everyone was so grateful to see us drive in. Dawn Ewing the Executive director gave us the grand tour of the camp including sharing the philosophy of the camp and how they empower the campers to problem solve and take charge of their own destiny and help change their own communities.
As we write this the entire team is sitting at a large dinning room table in a 1900’s farm house that will be our home for the next 3 nights. We entered this amazing home all in awe at the homey feeling created just for us. The fridge is filled with drinks, the counter has snacks abound and we each have chocolates on a doily on our pillow……The Hilton has nothing on this place!
We are all anxious to get started tomorrow with our volunteer friends from Topcon. Stay tuned for more truly fabulous stories from Fishkill Team #3 2008.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Fresh Air Fund Mission: Clinic Day One- Camp Mariah
At 7:45am, the Misison members entered Camp Mariah's dining hall and were greeted by an enthusiastic young boy. "You guys have the van, right," he said, clapping and jumping up and down; "The one that I can get glasses from???" The boy hurried alongside us, unable to contain his excitement, while we humbley smiled and felt a warm feeling in our hearts. He started to tell us about how he had broke his glasses almost a year ago and could not replace them; the school year had been very difficult for him and he had been anxiously waiting for the day GOS would come to camp. His excitement was infectious and soon the other kids had surrounded us, bombarding us with questions and stories about how badly they needed eyewear.
We happily began setting up and watched as the kids waited patiently for us to be ready for them. A line formed outside the infirmary, where we were administering the visual acuity, tonometry and auto-refraction tests, and soon the process began. After these tests, the kids came to the vision van where they were given an eye exam and picked their frames. At this point in the process, the kids were so excited that all you could hear was blissful chatter coming through the door of the van.
By the mid-afternoon, every child had been seen. The mission members diligently finished the daunting task of cutting all the lenses and putting together the frames; by dinner time, the job was complete and we carried the eyewear into the dining room. The kids greeted us with cheers and clapping as we started calling them up to claim their new glasses. One by one they ran up front, put their frames on, recieved adjustments, and then happily ran back to their tables to show off their new gifts. Several of them put the glasses on and had to take a few minutes to look around the room and see what they had been missing.
When we were finished giving the kids the gift of sight, we went back to the van to clean up. On our way, the young boy ran by us wearing his frames; we watched as he skipped to the basketball court, picked up a ball, and started shooting hoops. The realization that he now was able to fully experience the splendor of a basketball game swept over us, and we grinned at each other, understanding the affect that one pair of glasses will have on the boy's life.
We happily began setting up and watched as the kids waited patiently for us to be ready for them. A line formed outside the infirmary, where we were administering the visual acuity, tonometry and auto-refraction tests, and soon the process began. After these tests, the kids came to the vision van where they were given an eye exam and picked their frames. At this point in the process, the kids were so excited that all you could hear was blissful chatter coming through the door of the van.
By the mid-afternoon, every child had been seen. The mission members diligently finished the daunting task of cutting all the lenses and putting together the frames; by dinner time, the job was complete and we carried the eyewear into the dining room. The kids greeted us with cheers and clapping as we started calling them up to claim their new glasses. One by one they ran up front, put their frames on, recieved adjustments, and then happily ran back to their tables to show off their new gifts. Several of them put the glasses on and had to take a few minutes to look around the room and see what they had been missing.
When we were finished giving the kids the gift of sight, we went back to the van to clean up. On our way, the young boy ran by us wearing his frames; we watched as he skipped to the basketball court, picked up a ball, and started shooting hoops. The realization that he now was able to fully experience the splendor of a basketball game swept over us, and we grinned at each other, understanding the affect that one pair of glasses will have on the boy's life.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Day 2 and 3
Welcome Luxottica Wholesale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are so excited to meet new friends. Lucien, Meg and Cheng have arrived safely and we look forward to sharing many new experiences with them. We will also count on them to bring stories, energy and excitement back to Port Washington as Gift of Sight ambassadors! Many many thanks to these associates for blazing new trails with GOS in New York!
The Twins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Isn't it cool!?! We have a rare opportunity to see both vans working together! Mission ready glasses production is going well. Everybody has jumped in, getting a chance to participate with production before the campers show up. The mission team will be seeing little campers on Iris and the production team will continue mission ready production on Seemore for the rest of the month.
Seen here on the left is Dawn, Leona and Scott with the twins having a little 'silly time' on the way to camp.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Day one
Hey howdy hey! Production has begun!!!
Welcome Chrissy, Greg and Rob! We spent the day prepping frame product for the Fishkill clinic and getting the production van ready to make glasses for international missions. There was an awful lot of work to do in a short amount of time so the team took off full steam ahead! We had to chase down a few minor mysteries, organize the stock (lotsa nice new frames for the kids!), talk nice to the equipment (you know what I'm sayin!!!) and prep the clinic supplies.
When it was all over today, we were set up! We even took a few hours to get some production started! In 3 hours we had about 60 pairs completed, bagged, tagged and ready to go international!!! Incredible lenses donated by Seiko, AR 1.60 hi Rx stuff!!! Very cool!!!!! Our goal for the month is 6000 pairs of new glasses produced to send all over the world!!!!!!
We will run some production in the morning, move the vans into place at the camp and meet up with the remainder of the team. Things are looking good, the team was awesome today! Check back soon for more details.
Scott
Welcome Chrissy, Greg and Rob! We spent the day prepping frame product for the Fishkill clinic and getting the production van ready to make glasses for international missions. There was an awful lot of work to do in a short amount of time so the team took off full steam ahead! We had to chase down a few minor mysteries, organize the stock (lotsa nice new frames for the kids!), talk nice to the equipment (you know what I'm sayin!!!) and prep the clinic supplies.
When it was all over today, we were set up! We even took a few hours to get some production started! In 3 hours we had about 60 pairs completed, bagged, tagged and ready to go international!!! Incredible lenses donated by Seiko, AR 1.60 hi Rx stuff!!! Very cool!!!!! Our goal for the month is 6000 pairs of new glasses produced to send all over the world!!!!!!
We will run some production in the morning, move the vans into place at the camp and meet up with the remainder of the team. Things are looking good, the team was awesome today! Check back soon for more details.
Scott
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)