Vision Care for Needy Children

Since 1987, the sole purpose of the KEX Kids Fund Program is to provide vision and hearing care including examinations, eyeglasses and hearing aids to children whose families cannot otherwise afford these necessary items that increase learning and communication. 

The KEX Kids Fund works with a network of care providers who offer their services at reduced cost.  We address the roots of these problems, providing solutions.  This is a mission that has served well over 27,000 children in our community, and closely aligns with your trust’s mission of supporting projects and activities to enhance the health, education and welfare of Oregon children. This assistance will increase early scholastic learning (80% visual) and communication and contribute to educational success.

The KEX Kids Fund provides service completely equitably with no regard for the student’s ethnicity, race, demographic, etc. During the 2019-2020 fiscal and school year, the KEX Kids Fund benefited a broad and diverse swath of ethnicities and demographics (as self-reported by recipients) and the majority of service vouchers were provided to non-white students.

The 2019-2020 school year has challenged everyone in the same way this year has challenged communities all over America and the world in coping with the novel coronavirus, Covid-19. The school year, and the KEX Kids Fund access to students in need of vision and hearing assistance was cut short in March, 2020, by the pandemic and steps to lessen its impact. None the less, the KEX Kids Fund continues to provide first quality vision and hearing exams for children in the Portland Metro (as well as all over Oregon) as well as furnishing brand new eyeglasses and hearing aids for those children in need.

The KEX Kids Fund partners with the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation’s 20/20 School Vision Screening Program in the Portland Metro area to provide highest quality, equitable and accurate vision screening for school students to find those in need of vision exams and assistance such as eyeglasses. During the 2019-2020 “abbreviated” school year, OLSHF with the help of the KEX Kids Fund screened 51,559 students with 5,486 referrals for comprehensive vision exams at 152 school based events, (10.6%, slightly lower than the entire state of Oregon).

During the “abbreviated” 2019-2020 school year 426 vouchers for vision service were issued by the KEX Kids Fund in the Juan Young Trust area of service to help children see to their potential, so they can learn and grow to their potential.

By County:         

Clackamas - 42

Multnomah - 247

Washington - 137

During this school year/fiscal year, the KEX Kids Fund partnered with 94 vision care providers in 80 clinic locations in Oregon and Southwest Washington, including Pacific University College of Optometry to deliver these vision services to underserved children and their families.

It was a busy and successful first quarter of 2020, January through March, for the KEX Kids Fund. We'd like to say a sincere thank you to all of our donors, supporters and dedicated providers for helping children in need in Oregon and SW Washington get the vision help they need to be successful in their school and scoial expereinces and in their lives.

During this period there were 199 requests submitted. Of that 199, 156 were Approved, 1 was Denied, 4 were Canceled and 38 were Completed.

County by County requests were as follows:

Benton-1    Clackamas-25    Clark-3    Clatsop-1    Columbia-2    Crook-1    Douglas-3    Marion-10      Morrow-4    Multnomah-90    Polk-2    Skamania-1    Umatilla-2    Washington-52    Yamhill-2

This period was a partially a result of the work of our partners at the  20/20 School Vision Screening Program from the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation and the school nurses of the region we all work with.

School nurses and principals have shared that access to exams and eyeglasses helps their students in the classroom, and most recently new students from another country received crucial help through the KEX Kids Fund. They can see and learn better now!