Safilo renews sponsorhip with Special Olympics Opening Eyes

Safilo Group has recently renewed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Special Olympics as global supplier of the Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes vision program. Opening Eyes, part of Special Olympics' award-winning Healthy Athletes public health initiative, is the largest program in the world dedicated to providing vision care for the global population of people with intellectual disabilities.

Opening Eyes was founded by the American Optometric Association's Sports Vision Section and incorporated formally into the Healthy Athletes program in 1997. A generous grant from the Lions Clubs International Foundation, the largest service club organization in the world, formalized a global partnership and enabled the Opening Eyes program to be expanded internationally. Through the utilization of both organizations' infrastructures, Opening Eyes is implemented through volunteer vision care professionals (optometrists, ophthalmologists, opticians) and Lions Clubs members under the banner of Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes.

Safilo Group has demonstrated its leadership and corporate responsibility by providing critical ophthalmic supplies in support of the program. Statistics show that over 34 percent of all Special Olympics athletes screened are in need of new or modified glasses. Through its generosity and worldwide networking, Safilo provides direct support to Opening Eyes screenings through the shipment of ophthalmic frames and sunglasses, helping thousand of people with intellectual disabilities worldwide improve their sight.

Thanks to Safilo, in 2005 alone nearly 5,000 Special Olympics athletes received prescription glasses through Opening Eyes, while 11,400 athletes received sunglasses to protect their eyes. Safilo not only provides critical support by contributing millions of dollars of clinical supplies annually, but also its personnel donate their time and expertise at local Special Olympics events for the benefit of people with intellectual disabilities.

Safilo Group has strengthened the conviction of Special Olympics Chairman Dr. Timothy P. Shriver, who said, 'We are not only in the business of sports, but also in the business of changing lives'.