A colorful RV might look a little out of place parked in front of an elementary school, but the one outside Bregy Elementary, 1700 Bigler St., was slightly different — it was a fully equipped eye doctor’s office.
Monday morning, the Eagles Youth Partnership kicked off its 14th season of the Eagles Eye Mobile program, which travels to local schools and provides students with free eye exams and glasses.
Carter Liotta, an ophthalmologist for the $500,000 program, said his new office screams E-A-G-L-E-S.
"The kids relate to [football] a lot," he said. "[The message] is saying they don’t make you look geeky. It’s OK to wear glasses."
Liotta spent 20 minutes with each child that failed their school’s vision check-up. Aboard the Eye Mobile, kids were tested with the same equipment found in an other eye doctor’s office.
"We can’t cut corners just because it’s a free service," Liotta said. "I didn’t want to enter the world of denying people because they didn’t have insurance."
Those who failed Liotta’s tests were fitted for frames. The glasses, paid for by the program, were brought to schools within two weeks of the exam.
"It’s been a real help for us," Bregy nurse Paula Pendleton said. "Vision is a real need if [students] can’t see. It’s kind of hard for them to do their work without it."
Sometimes a youngster requires more than just new lenses. During a stop at Bregy last school year, the doctor discovered 8-year-old Marcus Brown had cataracts and one of the organizers drove him to St. Christopher’s Hospital that day for treatment. The program paid for his surgery.
Today, Brown can take notes as well as his classmates.
