Just as one in five Australian school aged children need to wear glasses, more than one in five have experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months. 1Concerningly, children who are hungry while at school are more likely to find it difficult to concentrate (73%), can be lethargic (66%), have learning difficulties (54%) and exhibit behavioural problems (52%). 2In fact, according to Foodbank, the average student loses more than two hours a day of learning time when they come to school hungry. 2

Now, a unique partnership, struck up between eyewear company augie and the not-for-profit Eat Up, is enabling all optometry practices in Australia to help fill the tummies of hungry kids.

Scott Arnold, co-founder of augie eyewear, says a percentage from the sale of every frame his company sells into practices is being directly donated to Eat Up.

“We established our business in 2020 with the intention of being able to give back to the community and we wanted to do something with more meaning on a local level. So, when we learnt that many schools around the country are reaching out to the community for help to feed their students, we decided we wanted to get involved.”

MAKING SANDWICHES

Eat Up accepts donations of money, bread, snacks, materials, and labour, so as well as donating a percentage from the proceeds of each frame sold, the augie eyewear team has pitched in to make cheese sandwiches at Eat Up’s sandwich-making events.

“We make cheese sandwiches which are boxed up in bulk and frozen, ready for delivery to schools where they are jaffled and handed out to the kids who need breakfast. It’s so good to see kids being helped in our own backyard,” Mr Arnold said.

OPTOMETRY SUPPORT

Mr Arnold said it has been encouraging to see optometry’s positive response to augie eyewear’s ‘frames for food’ initiative in partnership with Eat Up.

“We had a lot of point-of-sale about Eat Up on display at O-Show in Sydney during May and we have made it available to optometry practices that stock augie eyewear. The incredible response to this campaign has been a huge boost for us – it really is exciting.”

References available at mivision.com.au