Join our Volunteer Team!
Since 1969
Vision Screening
Why volunteer?
The benefits of volunteering are well known. Not only does an organization or
community reap the advantages of donated time and effort, but the volunteer gains too. There is a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in helping others and it’s also personally rewarding. Meeting new people and enjoying the camaraderie of working toward a mutual goal adds even more to the pleasure of volunteering.
Ideal Age
I Care volunteers believe that it is crucial to detect vision problems in children at an early age when the issues can be treated. Volunteers look forward to monthly screenings with lively preschoolers during the school year. Generally, teams of three volunteers are assigned to a school where they screen groups of 20 to 45 children individually. A screening form is completed for each child. The form indicates that the child’s vision is within a normal range, or
that a specific measurement is not within the normal range and a visit to an eye care
professional is recommended. These forms are sent home to the child’s parents.
Equipment is User Friendly
Equipment needed is minimal. Each screening involves SPOT (the handheld camera), a portable xerox machine and the necessary paperwork. Screenings usually take 2 to 3 hours on one day a month.
Teamwork
In addition to the teamwork and joy of being with children during monthly screenings, I Care volunteers attend several meetings and several social events each year. I Care boasts a stable
membership of approximately 25 individuals. Some have been part of the group for about 40 years and others have joined in the recent past.
Lions
Since I Care is affiliated with Lions International, all I Care members are asked to join the local Menlo Park Live Oaks Lions Club and are further encouraged to become active in this group.
Contact Us
We are always looking for new volunteers to join our fun and dedicated team. If you’re interested in learning more about becoming an I Care volunteer, contact us!
One Menlo Park mother stated …“I thought my son had great eyes”….”and then the I CARE screener definitely caught it before we, as parents did. It is a great program and the timing was very good for us.”
If amblyopia is caught in time, said one Ladera mother, “they just outgrow the whole situation.”
But without early diagnosis and treatment, amblyopia steadily, stealthily worsens, causing permanent damage or blindless within a few years.
The early detection and screening provided by the I CARE volunteers helps tremendously in finding the problem sooner rather than later.
Voluteer Focus
Rewards of Volunteering
A few hours a month results in helping parents of children where eyesight issues can be qualified for a needed follow-up exam with their Eye Care Doctor. We know how crucial the pre-school years are to catch eyesight abnormalities that can go undetected with potential consequences to the child. Helping parents is what we also do when we screen a child.
Our volunteers enjoy the time they spend with each other, the teachers who welcome us in and the children we screen.
Our goal is to save eyesight at an early age!