On August 7, 2025, the Redondo Beach Rotary Club collaborated with the Vision to Learn (VTL) organization and the Redondo Beach Unified School District (RBUSD) to provide free vision screening and eye glasses for grade school students from low-income families living in the South Bay. Each summer, in conjunction with the RBUSD Back to School Fair, approximately 20 Rotarians work with VTL staff to screen 150-200 students and identify 56-60 children who receive free eyeglasses just before the new school year begins.
Our club members find this hands-on opportunity to contribute to the local community extremely rewarding. Dr. Bob Hockberger, who practiced medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for 30 years where he was department chair for Emergency Medicine before he retired, has led the volunteering charge the last 10 years, shared why he loves to participate every year. "Initially, the glasses would be sent to the schools, and we, the Rotarians, would place the glasses on the kids faces for the first time," Bob explained. "Every Rotarian talks about their 'Rotary Moment', which is when they realize how important their work for Rotary is. I had my 'Rotary Moment' when I placed glasses on the face of a 5 year-old girl and seeing her eyes widen as she looked around the room, and I realized she was seeing the room for the first time. She had never in her life seen that clearly, that was my 'Rotary Moment.'"
Past studies have shown that 5-10% of grade school children in Los Angeles have had difficulty seeing the chalk and grease boards used in classrooms. The VTL program has improved the academic performance of children provided eyeglasses through the program, an improvement that persists through high school and results in a higher percentage of students going on to college.