Iowa City native impacts the world with growing non-profit ReSpectacle

Some 60 some years ago, a young boy in a small northwest Iowa town entered first grade with a dubious distinction.

He was the first kid in his large Baby Boomer class to wear eyeglasses.

He endured some “four eyes” and “Coke bottle” chatter for a while, but the kid survived and appreciated the blessings of correctable sight.

That kid was me, a kid lucky enough to have parents who could afford glasses.

So it was no wonder it struck a chord to learn that Dr. Jeff Lynch, an Iowa City native, has founded a thriving and effective non-profit cleverly named ReSpectacle, which has so far provided this kind of blessing at no charge to some 30,000 disadvantaged people who need it — from Oklahoma to Kenya.

“Glasses are one of the greatest inventions in the history of humankind as far as medical interventions,” said Lynch. “They are taken for granted by people who can afford them.  But it’s hard to climb the ladder out of poverty without having clear vision.”

This was the revelation Lynch had in 2006 as a University of Iowa medical student on a two-week mission trip to Peru to help teach modern cataract surgery to local surgeons.

“When we were in Peru, some people walked a day to come and see us,” he said. “Many didn’t need surgery, just eyeglasses. They would sift through a box of donated glasses we had with us, but most never got a correct prescription.”

Lynch, now a pediatric ophthalmologist in St. Paul, Minnesota, founded ReSpectacle a few years later. It collects used eyeglass donations like other worthy groups such as the Lions Club, but is set apart by an online database which provides an accurate prescription match.

The formula is a good one. Used glasses are collected at some 26 chapter locations nationwide, including University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Volunteers who are usually medical students and young ophthalmologists measure, describe and photograph each pair and post them on ReSpectacle’s online database.

People who have seen an eye doctor and have their current prescription numbers can enter them at www.respectacle.org and secure a match — or close to it — from the organization’s current inventory of some 40,000 donated pairs of glasses.

The glasses are then packaged and shipped directly to those in need, sometimes even in a style they might prefer.

The University of Iowa chapter processes about 400 pairs of glasses per month, most of which are quickly shipped directly to those who need them, according to medical student Evelyn Qin, one of the chapter’s directors.

Most users have annual incomes below the poverty line. So far, ReSpectacle has distributed some 20,000 pairs in the U.S. and another 12,000 internationally — to all 50 states and 37 foreign countries.

Abroad, the group works with about 50 mission organizations, plus doctors and hospitals where they exist, to collect orders and mail glasses in batches.

“Since inception, the number of volunteers, funds raised, glasses collected and glasses recycled have more than doubled each year,” said Lynch, who serves as ReSpectacle’s CEO. 

Nobody in the organization is paid and its current annual budget of about $50,000 is funded by grants and donations. As you might guess, shipping is the major expense. 

The need is massive. The founder says there are an estimated 153 million people worldwide ages five and older whose low vision could be restored 100 percent by glasses currently not available to them.

“Like most organizations, the demands on volunteers and the need for more funding are our main issues,” he said. “We currently limit the number of glasses we recycle each day because of cost constraints.”

Lynch fondly remembers his days growing up in Iowa City and enjoying the pedestrian mall, public library, youth sports, neighborhood fun near Mercer Park and even helping out regularly at the Iowa City Soup Kitchen. He says he benefitted from this, plus a “culture of excellence” at City High, where he was in the class of 1997.

“ReSpectacle was not started for compassionate reasons only,” he adds. “It’s been fun and exciting to build an organization from scratch that impacts communities globally.”

It’s great to see eye care professionals using technology and compassion to advance good vision for all, especially those where access is the barrier.

Just this year, the miracle of cataract surgery allowed me to get rid of the Coke bottles I’d been peering through my entire life.

That was wonderful news.

And as a bonus, I now have several pairs of high-strength prescription glasses ready to drop off at the local ReSpectacle collection point at the university.

If you want to help

Information on how to enter a prescription, donate funds and more can be found at www.respectacle.org. In Iowa City, there are several ReSpectacle collection points at University Hospitals, such as the ophthalmology clinic in the Pomerantz Family Pavilion, plus drop-off bins at hospital optical locations and the Iowa River Landing site.

Dick Hakes is a semiretired newspaper editor who lives in North Liberty.