To celebrate World Sight Day, Thursday, 13 October, L’Occitane has committed to continuing its partnership with The Fred Hollows Foundation throughout the month of October.
L’Occitane Australia has awarded its annual Caring for Sight grant of $40,000 to The Fred Hollows Foundation for the second consecutive year. Up to $25,000 of this contribution will comprise donations of $1 for every hand cream sold in stores and online from 1 to the 31 of October, 2022.
The $40,000 contribution will help fund an Aboriginal Liaison Officer to break through the language, cultural and emotional barriers associated with patients accessing services. The Aboriginal Liaison Officer, Veronica, will visit 37 remote communities each year, with a goal to provide patient support to 160 people for eye screenings and for 250 patients having eye health treatments.
The $40,000 contribution will help fund an Aboriginal Liaison Officer to break through the language, cultural and emotional barriers associated with patients accessing services
Currently, 94% of vision loss experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is treatable or preventable. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are four times more likely to wait more than one year for cataract surgery than non-Indigenous Australians. L’Occitane’s goal is to make a meaningful difference and improve access to eye care within these communities.
The Fred Hollows Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Ian Wishart, expressed gratitude for L’Occitane’s ongoing contributions.
“The Fred Hollows Foundation is extremely grateful to have the support of The L’Occitane Foundation. By receiving support from businesses like L’Occitane, we are able to continue supporting a workforce of eye health professionals in Australia working to deliver much needed, culturally appropriate eye care to our First Nations communities. We can’t thank L’Occitane enough for this support,” said Mr Wishart.
L’Occitane Australia General Manager, Pierre-Emmanuel Joffre said the partnership plays an important role in the brand’s commitment to cultivating change at both a local and global level.
“At its core, L’Occitane is committed to creating change in the world, and what better way to do this than to collaborate with such an important organisation like The Fred Hollows Foundation. Their ongoing work to end avoidable blindness within Indigenous Australian communities, and more broadly around the world, both inspires and motives our team to continue to support their cause. As an organisation, we are proud to make an impact on local communities and are looking forward to giving back to The Foundation again this year,” expressed Mr Joffre.
Since 1997, L’Occitane has included Braille labelling on many of its products. Through its foundation, which was established in 2006, the company partners with and supports organisations that work to fight preventable blindness. It is through this initiative that in 2020 L’Occitane achieved its goal of helping 10 million beneficiaries, now setting its sights on a new goal – to provide eye care for 15 million beneficiaries around the world by 2025.
To read more about L’Occitane’s commitments visit: au.loccitane.com/brand-commitments
To learn more about The Fred Hollows Foundation, go to: https://www.hollows.org/au
*Excludes 10ml hand creams. The maximum donation will be $25,000