News

Direct Relief Contribution

I CARE International board member Lance Kinney presents a $2,000 check earmarked for ongoing earthquake relief efforts in Haiti to Jonathon Glasoe, Senior Development officer at Direct Relief.

I CARE International is a non-profit that enjoys helping other non-profit concerns that we believe in. Direct Relief is a great example of a world wide non-profit that provides a huge "bang" for your donated dollars. Direct Relief is usually one of the first responders to provide medical supplies to cities, states and countries all across the globe when tragedy strikes. Based in Santa Barbara CA, this org. provides the world needed medicines and supplies at no cost. Check them out at www.directrelief.org

ICI In the News...

Listen to radio Lance Kinney and Dr. Rupert Chowins interview for this year's benefit recorded live:
Mp3 version of a radio interview on KVEC 920 AM. (Edited for time)

Global Vision

Christina Chapman

Jennifer and Ben Price always said they would go on an I Care International mission trip, it was just a matter of timing. When the Prices found out this year I Care was doing a mission trip in Guatemala, it seemed that time had arrived. The Prices youngest child, daughter Maya, is adopted from Guatemala. They adopted her at 6 months and she is now 3 years old.

"It's important to us to be involved locally, but also globally, since we have a child from Guatemala," said Jennifer Price, who is a new I Care board member. In addition to Maya's roots, another reason for their participation is the Prices also have a 6-year-old son, Jett, who has disabilities. This includes vision impairment, so being able to help others to see hits home for the couple. "Both my husband and I went and it is a life-changing opportunity," Jennifer Price said. "To go to another country with so little, but they are so grateful for any help they get."

I Care is an organization dedicated to improving the vision and hearing of those in need. Dr. Phil Ortiz, a now-retired Morris optometrist, and the late Dr. Charles Cools of Princeton founded the organization in 1989. The Prices attended the I Care trip to San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala, in March. They were just two of about 35 volunteers from Illinois to California, Canada and Costa Rica. The Prices joined three others from Morris on the trip, including Ortiz, Dr. Peter Roumeliotis, and Steve Matteson.

"This was the best one (he's been on) because we had great volunteers all the way from Mendota, Morris, Springfield, Darien, Naperville (Illinois), Oregon, Washington, San Diego and San Francisco, California, I mean all over and everyone was really willing to work," Ortiz said.

In addition to the Guatemala trip, another I Care group did a mission in April to Oaxaca, Mexico. This trip included 21 volunteers, including four community members of Morris: Jim and Carla Bianchetta, Jim Wright and Charlie Gibbs. Jim Bianchetta, a former president of I Care, led the group.

I Care had been to both of these locations before and returned because of the great need, Ortiz said. At both clinics, almost 1,700 patients were seen during each mission. Each group brought thousands of donated prescription glasses and sunglasses. Many were donated by area Lions Clubs, including the Morris Lions Club.

Each group had volunteer optometrists, ophthalmologists, optometry students and other types of doctors on their trips. The Morris Rotary Club sponsored two of the optometry students' trips to Mexico, said Gibbs, a Rotarian. Morris Rotary usually does this annually.

In Guatemala, Roumeliotis also brought diabetes screening and blood pressure equipment. In Guatemala this year, I Care worked with the International Eye Institute to conduct cataract surgeries. Of the almost 1,700 patients seen in Guatemala, about 57 were referred for surgery. Of the 57, 22 were able to make the five-hour bus ride to the hospital for the free surgery, Ortiz said. "A lot were afraid to go," Ortiz said.

Ortiz described one man who had to be escorted everywhere by his wife because he was completely blind from cataracts. He was approved for surgery, but because of the fear and not being able to contact his sons for support, he passed on the opportunity. "He did not want to do it without his sons' knowledge. The Latino culture is very family orientated. So his wife led him out of the clinic as she led him in. It was very sad," he said.

Surgery was only recommended for those who were blind because of the cataracts. The patients were allowed to bring one family member with for the trip, which they took on a "chicken bus." The group in Mexico referred about 20 patients with severe cases for cataract surgery, Bianchetta said via e-mail. These surgeries will take place this summer at a university in Oaxaca City.

Although the groups are back from their missions, the volunteers are still hard at work for the people in need. Dr. Dan Lieberman, a Cook County optometrist, is in the process of shipping prescription glasses to Mexico for those difficult prescriptions that could not be filled while he was there because the donated glasses were not strong enough. "These were mostly children with very poor sight," Bianchetta said.

MEXICAN MISSION

Like the Prices, this was Wright's first I Care mission. As a friend of Gibbs who has been on three mission trips, Wright said he had a good idea of what to expect on his Mexico trip, but he was still amazed. "We'd get there at 7:30 a.m. and there would be 100 people lined up waiting for us," Wright said.

In Mexico, the group worked out of a facility used solely by humanitarian groups. It was a former slaughter house, although you would never think so, Wright said. This group received help from the local Rotary Club and from the Mexican equivalent of America's Children and Family Services, Bianchetta said. Wright ran one of the automated refractors to measure patients prescriptions. "I had one guy who could not read my fingers until they were just one foot in front of him," Wright said. During Gibbs' three trips, he has done all the jobs, from using the refractors to fitting patients for glasses, he said. "Fitting is very rewarding. Especially when you put a pair of glasses on someone and they get that smile on their face like they're seeing everything for the first time," said Gibbs.

GETTING READY

I Care is already planning for next year's trips. They will not be able to return to Guatemala because of the trouble they encountered bringing their equipment into the country, Ortiz said. They are considering Panama, Argentina and other parts of Mexico, among others. To prepare, I Care is asking for donated glasses and hearing aids now.

In addition, Ortiz asks people to remember that, if someone cannot afford to volunteer for a mission, there are plenty of other ways individuals and clubs can volunteer, such as cleaning and organizing glasses. For more information on I Care, how to donate or to volunteer, call (815) 942-8004. Glasses and hearing aids can be donated at Ortiz Eye & Hearing Associates at 880 Bedford Road in Morris. Morris volunteer Jennifer Price uses a handheld automatic refractor to measure the sight of a man during an I Care Clinic in Guatemala. This was Price's first mission trip with I Care. (Photo courtesy of Lance Kinney Photography)

* © Copyright 2010, Morris Daily Herald (IL). All Rights Reserved.

Angel of Vision

Phil Ortiz

Some people have the gift of seeing the world without borders or obstacles, as if through a superhuman lens that strips away seeming roadblocks, language barriers, and cultural boundaries. It is perhaps no wonder that our angel of such pure vision is an optometrist—Dr. Phil Ortiz of Morris, Illinois. We originally puzzled over how this Midwest doctor happened to be in Avila Beach, throwing an annual fundraiser for his foundation, I Care International. But after learning that his nonprofit organization—founded in 1989 to bring better eyesight (and also hearing) to the less fortunate of the world—had touched the senses and sensibilities of people in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and other Latin American countries, as well as Native American tribes in Arizona; migrant workers in Florida; and the less fortunate in his own hometown; and that it had also spurred two spin-off foundations (I Care Canada and I Care Mexico) it was not so surprising that Ortiz should also have roots in California.

Creating a web of connection with everyone he meets, Ortiz seems to effortlessly bind together the various nations and peoples he visits with the common bonds of humanity and compassion, thus making the world a smaller place and its problems less daunting. In fact, one of his most dedicated volunteers, Avila photographer Lance Kinney, became involved in I Care after simply overhearing Ortiz speak about an upcoming trip. Kinney, a contractor on Ortiz’s Avila home at the time (he over-winters there, which explains the Avila-Illinois connection), jumped on the opportunity to help through photography; he now has all but taken the torch from Ortiz, recently meeting with the Guatemalan president to garner support for their upcoming mission. “It doesn’t take much to get people to get involved,” Ortiz laughs, adding that his spring ’09 trips are already almost full, without any solicitation. But his modest and matter-of-fact tone and quick, light-hearted laugh, which swiftly put to rest any misgivings, can certainly be accredited with facilitating an “I Can” attitude in those around him.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this spring, I Care International has worked to aid over 200,000 eye patient (through conducting acuity tests, eye exams, and fitting prescription eyeglasses) and more than 10,000 hearing impaired. Committed to two to five trips per year (lasting four to five days each, and handling 500 to 1,000 cases per day), the independent volunteers of I Care (most of whom have no optometry background) have spent their own time and money to give misfortunate people world-round not only a clearer vision, but also a brighter future and an improved view of humanity. “We get paid by the gratitude,” Ortiz says simply, adding that as the child of two immigrants from Mexico, he feels lucky for the education he was able to get and is happy to have found a way to give back.

I Care International warmly welcomes volunteers who want to support their vision missions, whether by traveling, donating funds, or giving used hearing aids (which get recycled for credit used to purchase new pieces) and new and used eye glasses. On each trip, they bring 8,000 – 10,000 people the gift of a crisper, clearer, brighter experience of life—as much for the patients as for the volunteers. See for yourself at www.icareinternational.org

AS SEEN IN CENTRAL COAST MAGAZINE (DECEMBER 2008). ©2008

Courtesy of Central Coast Magazine.

I Care International Receives $10,000 Donation from Local Family

I Care International Receives $10,000 Donation from Local FamilySan Luis Obispo, California – I Care International, a non-profit humanitarian organization, is the recipient of a $10,000 donation from Orville and Lois Hesch of Avila Beach, CA and their children, Slumberland Furniture Store owners Michael and Candy Hesch, of Wausau WI, Greg Hesch of Marshfield, WI, Mary Hesch of Stevens Point, WI and Ann & Craig Antonson of Rick Lake, WI. Together, the members of the Hesch family have given a sum of $10,000 to the Illinois and California based volunteer organization that provides vision and hearing care to under served populations around the world. The Slumberland Corporation encourages charitable giving as a key part of successful business practice. This generous philosophy has now been taken to the next level as a donation to I Care International is a way to offer valuable assistance to the global community. The Hesch family including father Orville Hesch and wife Lois of Avila Beach, have been strong supporters of the I Care International organization. “Vision is a gift that can change lives and we are so fortunate to have the ability to help volunteer groups like I Care do their work”, stated Orville Hesch.

Said Slumberland owner Mary Hesch, “At Slumberland, we believe giving back to the community is not only a good idea, but an essential part of doing business. Citizenship and stewardship are two of our company's core values. That's why a portion of the money you spend at Slumberland is returned to your community through charitable giving. As a family-owned business, we're proud to support activities and organizations that strengthen families and provide assistance to children and families in need”.

The I Care volunteer missions are conducted annually to remote locations in Central and South America. Since its inception in 1989, I Care International has provided over 250,000 eye examinations with corrective vision glasses, 400 cataract operations and 10,000 hearing aids. An all volunteer organization, local optometrists travel and provide their services for free, and volunteers pay for their own travel, lodging and meal expenses. Financial donations help purchase medical equipment and materials.

The Hesch family donation will address a long held dream of sponsoring students and recent optometric graduates to participate in missions. “A young doctor is often strapped with school loans and other obligations and unable to participate in our missions. With the Hesch family donation, I Care can offer a valuable opportunity to new and upcoming doctors to experience working with people who have never received medical attention. We believe this is a win-win for all, for I Care, new doctors and the patients”, observed longtime I Care volunteer Dr. Al Potter.

“It’s a significant step in promoting the tithing concept” stated I Care co-founder Dr. Phil Ortiz of Avila Beach. “We believe that by helping students and graduates cover travel and housing expenses in exchange for 5 days of valuable clinical work, they will also have the chance to experience the principles of philanthropy and gifting of services. Our hope is that the same business philosophy demonstrated by Slumberland Corporation and I Care volunteers may be adopted by the graduates in their business practices, whether it be helping those in need within their local communities, collecting used glasses for our missions or any other way they can use their talents and education”, added Ortiz.

Students and recent optometry school graduates can contact Dr. Ortiz to apply for a mission scholarship at (815) 735-6604. Upcoming missions also need experienced optometrists. I Care will be traveling this year to Manzanillo, Mexico on March 1-9 and Panajachel, Guatemala on April 1-15.

****

I Care International is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation that was established by Dr. Ortiz and the late Dr. Charles Cools in 1989. Dr. Ortiz is a graduate of the Illinois College of Optometry.

Volunteers for vision
Optometrists Focused on International Eye Care for Needy

By Christina Chapman; Staff Writer

Dr. Philip Ortiz holds a new style auto-refractor he is trying to purchase for I Care International. The old model on the table weighs more than 60 pounds and the group has to pay excess baggage fees when they fly. Ortiz is holding a fundraiser to buy a new auto-refractor and auto lens meter to read the prescription of donated glasses.

Whether it's a big city like Oaxaca City in Mexico, or a small village in Belize, when I Care International volunteers arrive, hundreds of people are lined up waiting to have their dreams of improved vision come true.

Mothers with babies on their hips, pre-teens and great-grandfathers all wait for hours for what is likely their only chance to be examined by a real doctor. Some come because their vision is so blurred they can't work, and others show up with more serious conditions, like reduced vision due to cataracts.

No matter the need, I Care International Inc. volunteers will do whatever they can to help.

"Some come and sleep overnight outside for glasses or some sort of medical attention," said Morris optometrist Dr. Philip Ortiz, co-founder of I Care.

Ortiz and the late Dr. Charles Cools created the nonprofit organization of hundreds of volunteers who travel around the world providing free eye exams, care and prescription glasses to thousands every year. Donated glasses are gathered all year long through local community organizations, churches and doctors' offices.

Sharing Education Gift

"I was lucky enough to get an education, and I wanted to share that," said Ortiz, who is the son of Mexican immigrants.

Since 1989, more than 200,000 people have been given eye exams and more than 400 have received cataract surgery. Volunteers have gone on about 64 missions, including three completed this year and three more planned for 2007.

For every trip, about 20 volunteers are needed and at least one lead doctor, but three or four doctors are preferred. Currently, I Care has about 180 members, but all of them cannot make a trip yearly, so there's a great need for doctors.

"Some of the places we go don't have doctors at all or, if they do, the people cannot afford to see them," Ortiz said.

But it is more than just doctors that make the trips a success. In addition to exams and procedures, volunteers are needed to register patients, log prescriptions and to find the appropriate glasses. Volunteers pay for their own expenses to attend a mission.

Evolving Efforts

"The trips are always changing, depending on the need. We may go to the same place, but it could be under a different government, or we may go to a new site," said Jesse Gutierrez, executive director of I Care.

Volunteers also are needed locally to help prepare for the missions. Before teams can leave, all donated glasses need to be cataloged so they can be found easily to fill a prescription.

This year, I Care teams went to Antigua, Guatemala and Durango, Mexico, where the clinics treated more than 1,700 patients each, Gutierrez said.

On Sunday, I Care will have its annual meeting at Maria's Restaurant in Morris, where members will go through the global requests for help and discuss the 2007 trips. The organization tries to conduct at least three trips a year, usually in Mexico, Central and South America.

"We get more out of it than we give," Ortiz said.

Updating Equipment

But in order to keep giving their best to people in need, I Care needs updated equipment. On Friday, the organization is holding a "Visions of Color 2006" fundraiser to raise money for such needs.

On previous trips, teams have brought large autorefractors weighing more than the airline-allowed 50 pounds and costing the organization extra money on already expensive trips. If the organization could purchase a couple of modern hand-held autorefractors, both money and muscle strain could be saved, Ortiz said. In addition, an autolensmeter, which automatically reads the prescriptions of donated glasses, would also improve the organization's services.

The goal for the fundraising event is $10,000 to $12,000. The night will include food and drink, entertainment by Tony Kidonakis and a live and silent auction. Featured auction items include a one-week vacation to Ortiz's own getaway in Avila Beach, Calif., including the house, flight and a car; a champagne cruise on the Illinois River; and restaurant certificates. In addition, photographs from one of the Guatemala missions by award-winning photographer Lance Kinney will be on display and for sale. If the event's goal is reached, extra funds will be used to conduct I Care services locally.

For more information on the event or the organization, to donate or volunteer, call (815) 942-8004.

Envisioning health
A photographer changes subjects and lives through I Care International

By Ashley Schwellenbach

General contractor Lance Kinney started an unexpected journey in 2004 when he began remodeling a house in Avila Beach. He asked the owner, Dr. Phil Ortiz, about his occupation, and the retired optometrist gave him a brochure for I Care International, an organization he had co-founded in 1989. Kinney took the brochure home. The next day, he returned to work with a financial donation for I Care International.

As he learned more about the organization, he decided that a financial donation simply wasn't enough, so he volunteered to accompany Ortiz on the organization's trip to Guatemala, where he could photograph the I Care International volunteers in action.

Kinney first became interested in photography after graduating from high school, when he decided to bring a camera with him on a trip to Europe. After moving to Carmel when he returned, Kinney attended workshops for photography, focusing on landscapes and surfing. Since then, photography's been an important pastime for him. He established Lance Kinney Photography in 1978 and participates in ongoing exhibits in Monterey and Carmel. But his artistic vision began to take a different shape during his trip to Guatemala, where, for the first time, he became interested in taking pictures of people.

Every year, I Care International takes one or two trips depending on how many eyeglasses they collect. On these missions, volunteers run an optometry clinic for about four days, treating an average of 2,000 people and providing many with their first pair of glasses.

"We generally go to remote areas," Kinney explained. "We look for people who really need the help. Most of the people have never seen any doctor of any sort. We're not political. We're not religious. It's important that we stay very independent. A lot of people go to these places for different reasons they have an agenda. All we're there for is to give people big smiles and lots of love and better eyesight. If we can. There are some people whose eyes are so bad we can't help them."

The volunteers publicize the fact that they'll be holding a clinic beforehand, and, by the time they arrive, the lines for the clinic can stretch for blocks. Many of the patients walk for several days to see them. Every visitor receives a complete examination, many receive glasses or sunglasses, and some receive cataract surgery or hearing aids.

It's difficult to prepare for 2,000 patients, ranging in age from newborns to 90-year-olds, many of whom have never received medical treatment. Still, volunteers come prepared with an estimated 10,000 pairs of eyeglasses. While traveling, each volunteer carries one bag of personal items and one bag of glasses or medical equipment.

On average, 20 to 25 volunteers attend each trip. Most of the volunteers are from Chicago, but in the past few years, Ortiz and Kinney have been working to establish a volunteer base in California as well. Because volunteers pay for their own airfare, food, and accommodations, I Care International tries to keep the expenses down by visiting places with cheaper airfare, such as Mexico and Central and South America. On average, each trip costs about $1,500. Very few of the volunteers have any background or training in medicine, but two to three optometrists volunteer their services each mission. Also, I Care International recruits optometry students to participate in missions, providing them with scholarships to cover the expenses.

"It shows them where the world is, in terms of eyes," Kinney explained. "It's nice, because they'll see diseases they never see here."

Though I Care optometrists pride themselves on conducting thorough examinations, their patients are usually not at all like those they treat in the United States. Many patients have never encountered medical equipment. Most make a living weaving or farming occupations that require good eyesight, but can also involve extensive exposure to the sun, wind, and heat.

"When I came back, it was as though a typhoon had hit me," Kinney said. "You see people who think they're blind and there's no way to change that and it's God's curse, and then you give them glasses, and, for the first time, they see their husband or wife and some start dancing and others start crying."

Since his initial mission, Kinney has been on two more trips one with I Care International and one with Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity. During his the latter mission, Kinney and the other volunteers stayed in the Amazon jungle as guests of the Peruvian army.

Each trip has renewed Kinney's commitment to I Care International. After the first trip, he offered to help establish an I Care International web site using his pictures from the trip. Given that he shoots between 3,000 and 5,000 photographs and around 15 hours of live footage per trip, Kinney had plenty of photographs to choose from. And, unlike his photographs prior to his involvement with I Care, his pictures are now dominated by people those he helps and the fellow volunteers who share his vision for a healthier world.

Currently, I Care International has plans to visit Costa Rica, Mexico, and possibly Africa. But before they can go anywhere, they need to collect the eyeglasses that change their patients' lives. To help raise funds and collect glasses, I Care International is hosting Visions of Color 2006, an evening that will include wine, dancing, and auctions at the Avila Bay Athletic Club on Sept. 16. Guests are invited to donate eyeglasses in any condition, keeping in mind that one person's spare pair could mean a world of difference to someone else.

"What we think is the worst in the world could be like a million dollars to somebody," Kinney said.

This year, a local business called Dioptics donated thousands of readers and sunglasses, and I Care volunteers are always looking for new ways to acquire glasses for patients. As Kinney helps I Care International refine other people's visions, he finds that his own changes along the way.

INFOBOX: U Care

On Sept. 16, I Care International is hosting its second annual benefit, Visions of Color 2006. The event takes place at the Avila Bay Athletic Club & Spa located on 6699 Bay Laurel Place. The evening, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m., features wine, hors d'oeuvres, dancing, and music by Louie Ortega. Both a silent and live auction will take place and a slideshow of Lance Kinney's photographs will be shown. Guests who bring a pair of eyeglasses will receive raffle tickets. Tickets cost $60 per person. Tickets can be purchased by calling 440-3433 or at the door. For more information about I Care International, visit www.icareinternational.org. Kinney's photographs will also be on display at the Len Lewis Gallery in Avila Beach and the Avila Bay Athletic Club & Spa in conjunction with the fundraiser. To view Lance Kinney's work visit www.lancekinney.com

Arts Editor Ashley Schwellenbach reads under the covers. Up her prescription at aschwellenbach@newtimesslo.com