BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
/A SECOND LIFE FOR OLD GLASSES
West End Optometrists Support Third-World Eye Care
by Ashima Shukla
(click images to enlarge)
At Denman Place Mall, The Ice-Cream Parlour is helping neighbours do more than refresh their prescriptions. For years, this curiously named eyewear store has invited West End residents to drop off gently used glasses, to be passed along to the Third World Eye Care Society (TWECS).
Jake Jackman, proprietor of the ice cream parlour Optical Store in denman mall.
Founded in 1995 by Dr. Marina Roma-March, the Vancouver-based charity is run entirely by volunteers and has grown to support communities around the world. As shop owner Jake Jackman told The West End Journal, their program makes it possible to “give sight to those who cannot afford sight.”
The process begins right here, as residents bring in old glasses that would otherwise remain forgotten in a drawer. TWECS’s volunteer teams of opticians and doctors then carry them abroad, providing basic eye care and carefully matching each pair to someone in need.
The Ice-Cream Parlour is not alone in collecting such donations. At Performance Vision Eye Care, Dr. Yip has supported the program for seven years, working with the Lions Club, UBC’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and even volunteering on projects himself. “It’s not just about sending glasses overseas,” he explained. “As volunteers, we clean, sort, and tag the frames as certain regions have need for specific prescriptions”.
Dr. Marina Roma-March.
Abasa Optical on Davie Street has also been a proud partner since the 1990s. “For us, a pair of glasses that’s no longer being used means nothing,” their team shared. “But for someone without access to vision care, those same glasses can mean everything.” Other neighbourhood clinics, including West End Optometry and Specsavers Denman, also keep donation bins.
This simple practice is both environmentally conscious and a step toward health equity.
When West End neighbours drop off their unused frames, those glasses can travel thousands of miles to restore someone’s sight, and with it, open new opportunities in their daily life. What begins as a small gesture on Robson, Davie or Denman ripples outward to have a global impact.
Each clinic has its own story, but together they reflect the care that runs throughout the community.
