“Optics is in my DNA,” says Janet, as she carefully inspects a pair of eyeglasses, using a lensometer, a device used to determine the correct prescription of a pair of glasses.  Volunteers buzz around Janet, during a busy Thursday morning (earlier this year) in the New Eyes sorting room, home to New Eyes’ global program.

Her father was an optometrist, and Janet started working alongside him while in high school.  Under his mentorship, Janet decided to enter the optical profession and went on to work with her father for many years.  

Now a semi-retired optician, Janet started volunteering for New Eyes last fall.  “I was watching TV one Saturday and saw New Eyes featured on CBS New York,” says Janet. “ My husband and I thought it would be a great fit.  So I called and asked, do you need any opticians to volunteer?”

Originally from Toronto, Janet has more than 35 years of experience as an optician, helping adults and kids find eyeglasses that are the best match for them medically.   She mentions that the New Eyes sorting process benefits from having an optician on-site, since the ability to fine-sort the eyeglasses in even greater detail enables those glasses to be put to good use much sooner.

As a volunteer, Janet uses her advanced optical skills to determine how to categorize eyeglasses donated to the New Eyes overseas program.  

“Each pair of glasses has a history,” says Janet, holding up sunglasses to the light.  “Looks like a pair of sunglasses, right? Well, I can tell that it has a bifocal segment of a specific power.” Janet can even visualize the approximate age and locale of the prospective sunglass recipient overseas, based on her years of experience as an optician. “Perfect for a middle aged person in a hot climate.”  

She trains corporate volunteer groups on the ins and outs of sorting eyeglasses, and encourages them to place eyeglasses in the “Not Sure” bin, a category newly created by Janet.  “It’s okay to be unsure,” says Janet. “And it builds volunteers’ self-confidence knowing that it’s alright not to always know.” There are so many different lenses that are difficult to identify, like digital progressive lenses, or ones with anti-reflective coating.  New Eyes volunteers sort more than 15 categories of eyeglasses on any given day! 

“These eyeglasses will transform someone’s life, and I’m proud to be a part of that,” says Janet.

Thank you Janet for your volunteerism and everything that you bring to New Eyes!