Warby Parker is a glasses and sunglasses company that sells vintage-inpired styles at a lower-than-usual price. In addition to their appealing retail price is the chance to give back to those less fortunate. With their “buy a pair, give a pair” program, when a pair is purchased via their online website or limited store locations, the company distributes one pair of glasses to someone in need.
Warby Parker funds the production eyeglasses for the non-profit organization VisionSpring, which in turn sells either directly to consumers or to companies. Three years into the Warby Parker Project, co-founders Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa, and Jeffrey Raider were excited to announce that they had distributed over 500,000 pairs of glasses through their non-profit partners via the “buy a pair, give a pair” program. This means half a million people are leading happier, healthier lives and working and learning more effectively.
With the glasses they have donated, 10,000 entrepreneurs have focused on low-income areas in which to sell these affordable glasses. This has lead to over 100 million dollars of economic revenue, due to the increased economic productivity that comes with proper vision. These partners have distributed glasses to 36 different countries!
With all the incredible progress of the Warby Parker Project, there is still a lot that has yet to be achieved. Of all of the visually impaired individuals in the world, 90% live in developing countries, of which a whopping 80% of visual impairment cases can be avoided or cured. This means that there are still 703 million people whose vision can be restored with a simple pair of glasses.
(Feature image: Founders Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa, and Jeffrey Raider)
