To Do: Give Kids Sight Day at Wills Eye

Free eye exams for kids on Saturday

This Saturday, April 14th, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wills Eye Institute throws open its doors to the city’s children from newborns up to age 18, offering free eye exams to all comers there as well as at Jefferson Hospital’s Alumni Hall. The Give Kids Sight Day program, the pet project of Alex Levin, Wills’s chief of pediatric ophthalmology and ocular genetics, is an attempt to remedy the fact that 16,000 Philly children failed their school-administered vision tests in school year 2009-’10 but never had a follow-up visit with an eye doctor—a situation he terms a “tragedy.” Poor vision can have negative effects on a child’s grades and behavior, Levin notes; kids need to be able to read to succeed. An estimated 2,000 of the city’s 26,000 uninsured kids are expected to take advantage of the program, co-sponsored by Public Citizens for Children and Youth and the Eagles Youth Partnership. No insurance or appointment is needed, and information is provided on obtaining free health-care coverage for children. More details are here.

FREE, Saturday, April 14, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wills Eye Institute at 840 Walnut Street and Jefferson Hospital’s Alumni Hall at 10th and Locust streets.

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