Sixth-grader organizes collection of eyeglasses for people in China

Published: 2004-04-30

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- Almost 1,000 people in southern China are going to see the world a lot clearer thanks to a sixth-grader from Our Lady of the Pillar School in Creve Coeur. When Max Sommers learned that his father's college roommate was going to volunteer at a free eye clinic in Kunming, China, and needed used eyeglasses, he didn't hesitate to pitch in. Max spearheaded a collection drive that netted almost 1,000 pairs of used glasses for the clinic. "It was nothing really," Max told the St. Louis Review, newspaper of the St. Louis Archdiocese. "My dad told me what his friend is doing. I wear glasses, and I know how hard it is to go around without seeing." After finding out about the need for glasses, Max contacted his school to ask permission for a collection drive. He made posters with information and messages about what he was doing hidden in an eye-chart format.

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