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Monday 8am - 4pm Tuesday 8am - 4pm Wednesday 8am - 4pm Thursday 8am - 4pm Friday 8am - 4pm

BUCKS COUNTY ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED, 400 Freedom Dr, Newtown, PA (2025)

09/03/2025

Today was the grand reopening of our Second Look Newtown Thrift Shop. Our thrift shop ladies worked hard and efficiently, cleaning, clearing out the store, organizing, and restocking to ready the shop for our new Fall merchandise. The shop has been spruced up with some surprises as well. With the Fall merchandise and improvements, it looks like a new shop!

BCABVI owns and operates the Second Look Newtown Thrift shop, which has been proudly serving our community for over 50 years. With all proceeds from purchases and donations helping to support essential services and programs for our blind and visually impaired clients, the thrift shop is an important revenue stream for us.

We’d like to give a big thanks to all thrift shop staff and volunteers, and BCABVI staff and volunteers who helped during this turnover. The thrift shop ladies are amazing, and every day, they create a welcoming atmosphere and foster a sense of community for our customers.

If you are a Second Look Newtown Thrift Shop customer, thank you. If you’re looking for a thrift shop in Bucks County, we invite you to visit our shop. For more information about in-store sales, our rewards program, volunteer opportunities, donations, and more, please visit: https://www.secondlookthrift.com.

09/01/2025

We are closed today in observance of Labor Day.

We wish all of you a Happy, Safe, & Healthy Labor Day weekend.

Our office will reopen on Tuesday, September 2nd.

08/27/2025

We had another wonderful in-person event yesterday! This time, our clients enjoyed an end-of-summer picnic! Marcie, our caseworker, outdid herself with decorations, trivia, and gift bags for our clients. Karen, our Food Services Manager, and our transportation staff cooked up yummy picnic food. The rest of our staff helped make the day as comfortable and enjoyable as possible for our clients.

As summer vacations are coming to a close and many are going back to school, Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer for many of us. With that in mind, we’d like to wish all of you a safe and healthy Labor Day weekend!

08/27/2025

In honor of yesterday's National Dog Day, here's a picture of our client Deb with her guide dog, Richie!

Guide dogs are amazing for people who are experiencing blindness and visual impairment, offering an enhanced quality of life, companionship, confidence, more independence, to name just a few benefits...

To learn more about guide dogs, please visit the following websites:
The Seeing Eye: https://seeingeye.org
Guide Dogs for the Blind: https://www.guidedogs.com
Guide Dog Foundation: https://www.guidedog.org

08/20/2025

We’re Kicking Off Our 2025-2026 Preschool Vision Screening Program!

It’s Children’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month which is the perfect time to highlight the vital role that vision plays in children’s physical, cognitive, and social development.

BCABVI advocates for children’s eye health and early detection through regular eye exams. We provide vision screenings to over 5,000 preschool children in 116+ preschools annually across Bucks County, PA.

Using the Welch Allyn SPOT Vision Screener, our preschool vision screeners can detect common eye issues at an early age, including amblyopia (lazy eye), myopia (nearsightedness), hypermyopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism, among other vision issues. By catching issues early, referring children for a follow-up eye examination, and providing resources, preschoolers we screen can receive treatment and begin their formal education with their best possible eyesight.

With our 2025-2026 preschool vision screening program starting in a couple of weeks, we’d like to welcome our new preschool vision screener, Lauren Young to our team. Lauren’s experience with Bucks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU) and the Council Rock School District has prepared her for this role so she can hit the ground running.

For more information about our preschool vision screening program, please contact Erin McCormack at 215.968.9400, extension 210.

08/20/2025

We’re Kicking Off Our 2025-2026 Preschool Vision Screening Program!

It’s Children’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month which is the perfect time to highlight the vital role that vision plays in children’s physical, cognitive, and social development.

BCABVI advocates for children’s eye health and early detection through regular eye exams. We provide vision screenings to over 5,000 preschool children in 116+ preschools annually across Bucks County, PA.

Using the Welch Allyn SPOT Vision Screener, our preschool vision screeners can detect common eye issues at an early age, including amblyopia (lazy eye), myopia (nearsightedness), hypermyopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism, among other vision issues. By catching issues early, referring children for a follow-up eye examination, and providing resources, preschoolers we screen can receive treatment and begin their formal education with their best possible eyesight.

With our 2025-2026 preschool vision screening program starting in a couple of weeks, we’d like to welcome our new preschool vision screener, Lauren Young to our team. Lauren’s experience with Bucks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU) and the Council Rock School District has prepared her for this role so she can hit the ground running.

For more information about our preschool vision screening program, please contact Erin McCormack at 215.968.9400, extension 210.

08/15/2025

Blind Logic, The Ralph R. Teetor Story is coming to the New Hope Film Festival on August 20th!

Teetor, an automotive pioneer, played a key role in the development of the gas-powered motor car, helped the navy in WW1, and invented "Cruise Control" among other groundbreaking innovations.

The most inspirational part of his story is that he was blind.

To learn more about Teetor, please visit: https://www.blindlogicproductions.com/about

To get tickets for Blind Logic, please visit: https://www.goelevent.com/NewHopeFilmFestival/e/BlindLogic

08/13/2025

Our client Joe doesn’t let blindness get in the way of enjoying a sport he’s loved over the years - golf!

Joe plays golf weekly with the Middle Atlantic Blind Golf Association (MABGA), a nonprofit organization who have been “empowering blind and low vision individuals to experience the challenges and rewards of golf” since 1948.

“I like getting out and being with other people. I’ve tried other activities, but they weren’t accessible to blind people. At MABGA, the organizers understand the challenges of being blind and how to make things safe and accessible for us.” - Joe, BCABVI Client

Joe will be participating in the 2025 MABGA Annual Tournament on August 25th in Huntington Valley. The event is a fundraiser to help support the organization’s programs.

Mike Molloy, Sighted Governor of the organization & Director of the Junior Blind Golf program shares: “Golf with MABGA is not just a great opportunity to challenge oneself out in nature, but it’s a great way to socialize and meet others.” His son Patrick, who is blind, played golf last Friday with Joe. Patrick started golfing with MABGA as a youth, and it’s given him a space to pursue his golf passion and share camaraderie with the other golfers.

For more information about the MABGA adult program, please contact 215.745.2323 or info@mabga.org.

For more information about the Junior Blind Golf program (open to boys and girls ages 7-21), please contact Mike Molloy at 215.499.0599 or email junior-golf@mabga.org.

08/06/2025

We are always looking for new assistive devices that help make our clients' lives easier to navigate. eSight Go™ by Gentex Corporation is one such device.

Per their website, eSight Go™ is a “digital low-vision device that helps people with significant central vision loss to see more clearly and maintain their mobility and independence.” It’s specifically designed for people with Macular Degeneration and Stargardt Disease.

Erin Kramer, BCABVI’s Certified Low Vision Therapist, who trains our clients on the device, sees its benefits: “Central vision loss interferes with daily activities like reading, writing, and identifying people around you. eSight Go gives our clients a new pair of eyes by helping expand their central vision. It’s impactful on their daily activities.”

With its lightweight, glasses-style design, eSight Go™ features a high-quality 12 MP camera and zoom up to 24x magnification for greater clarity.

For more information on the eSight, please call our Low Vision Clinic staff at 215.968.9400.

Watch Erin demonstrate the eSight Go™.

07/30/2025

Noor, a former preschool vision screener at BCABVI, reflects on her transformative experience with us:

“While shadowing Dr. Denise Wilcox in the Low Vision Clinic at Bucks County Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (BCABVI), I was offered a position as a preschool vision screener for the remainder of the academic year. With little knowledge of what the job entailed, I saw it simply as an opportunity to diversify my experience in optometric care.

"What I didn’t expect was how rewarding this role would become.

"Yes, I gained a better understanding of pediatric visual care, but the real growth happened in the micro-moments that made up the field experience as a whole. I found myself in meaningful conversations with parents over the health of their child’s vision. I learned to advocate for students with learning disabilities, ensuring their needs were acknowledged and supported. I collaborated with school administrators, adapted to diverse environments, and most importantly, got invited to birthday parties!

"This job genuinely enriched my understanding of what goes into being a trusted healthcare provider, and I cannot thank Anne Marie Hyer and the BCABVI team enough for giving me the opportunity to grow under their guidance.” - Noor Musharraf, Doctor of Optometry Candidate, Pennsylvania College of Optometry

We’re actively seeking a part-time preschool vision screener to join our team in mid-August. For more details about this rewarding position, please contact Anne Marie at 215.968.9400.

07/25/2025

Today, we visited Oxford Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Langhorne, where we brought clothing from our Second Look Newtown Thrift Shop for patients to browse and shop. It was a great opportunity to partner with a local care facility.

A special thank you to Sheryl Fitzgerald, Memory Care Director, for her help in organizing the event.

07/23/2025

With the heat of the summer upon us, it was the perfect time for gathering our clients together for yesterday’s in-person “Christmas In July” themed event. We have those Keystone Camp girls of 1933 from North Carolina to thank for the idea. Our day featured trivia, snacks, lunch, and an audio descriptive movie.

Summer is the perfect time to celebrate the holidays, and in-person events are a great way for our clients to get together and reconnect. Over time, we’ve seen friendships develop through shared experiences and mutual respect. It’s wonderful all around as our staff comes together to help make these events fun and run smoothly.

Benefits of Social Events For Blind & Visually Impaired People:
Building strong social connections & support
Validation of feelings and experiences
Greater independence
Reduces anxiety & isolation
Builds Confidence

Our clients don’t let visual impairment and blindness get in the way of staying active, and there are many accessible ways to celebrate the upcoming holidays. Although the December holidays are 5 months away, here are some ideas to get a head start on holiday planning.

Some Holiday Cheer Ideas for Our Blind & Visually Impaired Community
Make or buy ornaments, crafts & decorations (tactile, interactive, and scented)
Accessible & tactile board games, puzzles & audio books
Cooking & baking with family
Listen to holiday tunes
Watch audio descriptive movies & shows

These are just a few ideas. Please feel free to share any ideas you have to help make the holidays more fun and accessible. I’d love to hear from you: kburton@bucksblind.org.

BUCKS COUNTY ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED

09/03/2025

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08/27/2025

08/27/2025

08/20/2025

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07/30/2025

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07/23/2025

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Monday	8am - 4pm
Tuesday	8am - 4pm
Wednesday	8am - 4pm
Thursday	8am - 4pm
Friday	8am - 4pm