Founded by Celine Chak during her freshman year of high school, Focal Point Foundation is a Vancouver-based non-profit that supports residents at the Easter Seals House along with the work done by the Third World Eyecare Society. Having volunteered at the Easter Seals House and numerous optical clinics prior to the establishment of Focal Point, Celine was inspired to found an organization that would conjoin her many interests under the BC Lions Society, connecting the Easter Seals House and the Third World Eyecare Society through her work. According to Collins Dictionary, a focal point is the point at which two “parallel rays of light converge.” Celine aspired to merge her passions for philanthropy and the optics, and Focal Point allowed her to do just that.

 

Since then, Celine has organized and trained a team of high school students from across the Greater Vancouver area who share her ambitions. The funds from fundraisers led by our various branches in Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, and Surrey are donated to the Easter Seals House as well as the Third World Eyecare Society.

 

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Not only does Focal Point provide funding for the Easter Seals House, but our team also hosts a variety of community events with the children and families that inhabit it. Our goal is to support the house financially while also directly impacting the lives of the residents through fun-filled get-togethers in the Easter Seals community rooms.

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Similarly, with the Third World Eyecare Society, Focal Point monitors eyeglass donation bins stationed around British Columbia. The collected glasses are regularly transferred to the eyeglass warehouse at the Burnaby-Lougheed Club, where our team sorts the donated eyeglasses. These eyeglasses are brought on annual trips hosted by the Third World Eyecare Society where licensed eye surgeons, eye doctors, opticians and lay volunteers travel to third world countries to provide vision care and perform operations, such as cataract surgeries. This year, the recycled eyeglasses will be distributed during the 2019 Peru Project!

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In the next year, we hope to expand our team outside of British Columbia to contribute to the community on a global scale. We hope to develop into an international non-profit organization in the years to come!