Middlesex Community College Provides Free Community Eyecare

On March 4 and 6, the second year students of the Ophthalmic Design and Dispensing Program (OD&D) at Middlesex Community College (MxCC) conducted Project Eyecare at the MxCC Vision Center in the lower level of Chapman Hall on the Middletown campus. By the end of the two day project, over sixty five people, who could not otherwise get a complete ocular health assessment and eyewear, had been seen. Patients came from the Eddy Center, St. Vincent dePaul Society, the Sheperd Home and from Youth and Family Services of Rocky Hill. Caption reads: Dr. Hal Ostrom provides free eyecare at Middlesex Community College’s annual Project Eyecare event.

	Project Eyecare was conceived as an ongoing community program in 1997 by MxCC OD&D Professor Rene “Skip” Rivard. Second-year students, Norma Brown of Stratford and Sandra Perkins from Durham, coordinated this year’s project and Professor Rivard and lab assistant, Jim Susco, acted as facilitators. “I know what it’s like to have nothing, and I know what its like to have plenty. So I thank God for the opportunity through MxCC and the OD&D Program to be able to help so many people along the way” said Brown. Caption reads: MxCC OD&D student, Justine Anderson checks a patient’s vision during the College’s annual Project Eyecare event.
	Free professional services during Project Eyecare were provided by John B. Franklin, M. D., an ophthalmologist from Consulting Ophthalmologists, PC, in Farmington and Glastonbury, and Hal Ostrom, OD, an optometrist from Clinton Eye Associates, in Clinton. The upcoming graduates of MxCC’s OD&D program who operate and manage the on-campus eyewear clinic as part of their curriculum also completed measurements, ordering and eyewear fitting. Encore Optical, Hoya Optical, McLeod Optical, and Precision Optical donated lenses. The Frascone’s Italian Deli, Queen St, Southington and The Connecticut Opticians Association donated the food and refreshment provided to waiting patients. Caption reads: Middlesex Community College’s OD&D students and Project Eyecare Coordinators, Norma Brown of Stratford and Sandra Perkins of Durham pause for a photo in the College’s Eye Glasses Lab during the College’s annual event.
For more information about Project Eyecare or the OD&D program at MxCC, please contact Professor Rivard at 343-5846.