SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL:

LUVERNE – Sight Savers America’s (SSA) health screening program is returning to the Crenshaw County Schools to provide comprehensive health screenings to Pre-K-12^th grade students at all three schools. Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Luverne and First Citizens Bank of Luverne are the local sponsors of these health screening events. The Brantley event was held on September 14^th and 295 children participated in the health screenings. The Luverne event will be held on October 12^th and the Highland Home event will be held on November 9^th.

Greg Couch, President and CEO of Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Luverne said, “We are thrilled to support Sight Savers America’s health screening program here in Crenshaw County for the second consecutive year. Pepsi Luverne is a strong supporter of the Crenshaw County Schools and we are excited to support this model program that is helping improve the health of our school children.”

William Petrey, President & CEO of First Citizens Bank said, “This is an important program that is providing a valuable service to the children of Crenshaw County. We are proud to again support this effort to provide access to important health screenings for our school children. This is an investment in the future of our children.”

Each of the health screening events begin at 8:00 a.m. and continue throughout the school day. All students with parental consent are screened for height & weight with BMI; vital signs; chest & abdomen examinations; vision; dental; hearing; and eyes, ears, nose, & throat examinations.

Sight Savers America partners with Troy University School of Nursing for these health screening events in Crenshaw County. Nursing students, under faculty supervision, administer the health screenings. Trained SSA staff members perform the vision screenings using a Plusoptix vision screener. This allows children to be screened in a non-invasive and time efficient manner, while capturing full refraction data in less than one second. Every child failing the vision screening will be case managed by Sight Savers America to ensure they receive necessary follow-up eye care from a local eye care provider.

Chad Nichols, Chief Operating Officer of Sight Savers America said, “We are thankful for the support of Pepsi Luverne that helps fund our school-based health screenings for Crenshaw County’s school children. We have a great partnership with Crenshaw County Schools and Troy University School of Nursing and our program truly is a win/win for the school children, the college nursing students, and the community.”

Sight Savers America is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to identify and secure treatment for unmet vision and health needs. For more information on the SSA health screening events in Crenshaw County or for sponsorship information for these events, please contact Chad Nichols at 205-436-6411 or by emailing cnichols@sightsaversamerica.org.