By Mary O’KEEFE

Connor Choi is a 16-year-old student attending Clark Magnet High School and a Boy Scout with Troop 502, based out of La Cañada Flintridge. He has been working on his Eagle Scout project that will help those in need see life a little clearer.

Choi has been a Boy Scout since he was in seventh grade but going for the Eagle Scout project is not an easy path.

“You have to find a project which is kind of difficult,” Choi said.

Choi said he has known that others in his troop have had a difficult time finding just the right project. According to the Boy Scouts an Eagle project must benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting. It is best if a project benefits the community, either the local community or the world community. It is also advised, according to a Boy Scouts of America website, to look for projects that take the Scout out of his, or hers, comfort zone—dealing with an organization they normally do not interact with.

Choi has chosen his project to help the needy get eye glasses. He is working with New Eyes for the Needy, a non-profit organization that purchases new prescription eyeglasses through a voucher program for children and adults in the US who cannot afford glasses on their own. They also accept, recycle and distribute donated glasses to those in need overseas, according to new-eyes.org

“These glasses will go all over the world,” he said.

As of Dec. 30 he has collected over 500 eye glasses to donated and is still collecting more.

“The first time I heard about [Eyes for the Needy] was when my dad found this [organization] on the website,” he said. “Sight is such an important thing for people.”

He added that eye sight is important not just for reading and writing but for everyday life.

“I have had glasses since I was in third grade. I know I wouldn’t last a day without them,” Choi said.

The estimated number of people in the world who are visually impaired is 285 million— 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision,  according to the World Health Organization.

The Eagle Project is designed to challenging, once the project is found the Scout must make presentations to Boy Scout leaders both in their troop and in the council that oversees their troop.

“I have learned a lot about the importance of communication,” Choi said of what he has learned from the project.

He used social media as an outreach tool to promote his project, as well as working with other Scouts, individuals and representatives from Eyes for the Needy.

Choi is continuing his collection of eye glasses until Jan. 17. Anyone who would like to donate gently used eye glasses can bring them by the CVW office at 3800 La Crescenta Avenue, Suite 206.

  Mary Okeefe