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Story by Dr. Derek Tong

Western University of Health Sciences College of Optometry Clerkship Preceptor Derek Tong, OD, FCOVD, FNORA, Dipl AAO, and several WesternU College of Optometry alumni joined with Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH/International) and other humanitarian organizations to provide vision care to those affected by the Southern California wildfires.

Two people smiling indoors near vending machines, with white walls and a tiled ceiling.
Dr. Derek Tong (left) and Dr. Kristen Phifer at the YMCA in Monrovia providing free care to wildfire victims. (Courtesy of Dr. Tong)

College of Optometry alumna Kristen Phifer, OD ’18, was among 35 optometrists who volunteered with the Power of Sight Foundation at the YMCA in Monrovia and Sierra Madre during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Optometric examination equipment was set up in the YMCA basketball gym.  The optometrists each volunteered for at least one half-day on their day off, providing no-cost eye exams to 431 wildfire victims. A team of more than 10 opticians made 570 pairs of eyeglasses on-site and delivered them to patients on the same day for free, replacing glasses that were lost in the Eaton fire.

College of Optometry alumna Jannette Hang, OD ’15, was part of the OD volunteer team with the Tzu Chi Foundation to provide needed wildfire disaster relief for at the Kaiser Permanente Office Building in Pasadena over a six-day event from Jan. 25 to Feb. 1, 2025. The team of 16 ODs came on their day off, and some even came before or after work. A total of 183 patients were seen using the examination lanes inside the Tzu Chi Vision Mobile and 226 pairs of new glasses were made by the optician team inside the mobile and provided to the patients for free same day. This six-day disaster relief event had averaged 3,000 recipients a day and the OD team worked alongside many other nonprofit organizations.

Two men wearing black shirts, one with a name tag, pose for a photo in a room with optical equipment and other people in the background.
Dr. Derek Tong (left) and Dr. Bryan Kimura providing care at the Eaton Village Free Health Clinic. (Courtesy of Dr. Tong)

On Feb. 2, 2025, the Power of Sight Foundation teamed up with the Pasadena SDA Church at their monthly Eaton Village Free Health Clinic held in the heavily wildfire-impacted communities of Altadena and Pasadena. College of Optometry alumnus Bryan Kimura, OD ’18, was among the five ODs and one ophthalmologist who provided eye examinations to over 40 patients who came to the event to receive inter-disciplinary care from a team of physicians, dentists, nurses, and mental health providers. Examination equipment was set up inside the church activities room and 50 pairs of glasses were made by the Power of Sight optical team inside their mobile van in the church’s parking lot and dispensed to the patients for free on the same day.

Dr. Tong said his favorite course at the Southern California College of Optometry was the Public Health class taught by Elizabeth Hoppe OD, MPH, DrPH, who was an SCCO faculty member at the time and who went on to become the Founding Dean of WesternU’s College of Optometry.

During one of the classes, Dr. Hoppe brought in a guest speaker representing VOSH/International, who talked about the nonprofit eyecare projects that were held in developing countries. Dr. Tong had never imagined that 30 years later when the Los Angeles wildfires happened, he would see an announcement of an Optometric Wildfire Disaster Relief held at his local YMCA organized by the associates of this VOSH/International guest speaker.  

“Empathy is at the heart of what they do,” Hoppe said. “These doctors of optometry are not just health care providers, they’re community leaders committed to uplifting others through service and care.”

Please visit the Power of Sight Foundation website The Power of Sight Foundation – Power of Sight Foundation if you want to support the Foundation’s mission of “Improving Vision, Changing Lives.”