You may know Eschenbach Optik of America for its ophthalmic quality magnifiers, telescopic and video devices. Since 1983 they have been helping eyecare and vision rehab professionals in North America serve their visually impaired patients, helping ensure their safety, independence, productivity and quality of life.

So, it should come as no surprise that the Danbury, Connecticut-based company’s latest charitable outreach initiative, called the Eschenbach Partner Project, assists this rapidly growing population as well. During Vision Expo West in September, the company announced that it is partnering with the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation to sponsor the breeding, raising and training of a Fidelco German Shepherd guide dog over a twoyear period for one of the latter’s qualifying clients who will be given the guide dog free of charge.

“We feel this initiative is an ideal complement to what we do because guide dogs provide something for the visually impaired that our product line does not,” explains Ken Bradley, Eschenbach’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our product line helps the visually impaired manage the activities of daily living, but a guide dog helps them manage the world.”

Interestingly, Eschenbach and the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation have more in common than just assisting the visually impaired. Both the company and the foundation have connections to the Bavaria region of Germany (German Shepherds are from Germany after all), and both are based in Connecticut (Fidelco has offices in Wilton and Bloomfield). As a result, a partnership “seems only natural,” Bradley says, adding that Eschenbach is already a long-time supporter of other organizations such as the Blinded Veterans Association, among others.

Training a guide dog to assist the visually impaired is a particularly involved process, and one that requires a significant financial commitment. Fidelco Guide Dogs German Shepherds— This Eschenbach Sponsored Puppy has a Purpose! the foundation has its own breed within a breed of German Shepherd Dogs that share the needed physical and intellectual characteristics and temperament for the task—undergo a rigorous training regimen that takes some 15,000 hours to complete. In fact, not all dogs are able to become guide dogs; those that undergo a career change may wind up working as police and/or bomb-sniffing dogs if not ending up as pets.

“Most laypeople probably think that police dogs are the highest standard of working dog, but it is actually the guide dog that holds that distinction,” notes Bradley. “These are not just your average dogs.”

That’s because the work they do is so vital to their clients. Indeed, guide dogs effectively allow the legally blind and visually impaired to remain active in, and connect with, the community at large by assisting them in navigating the outside world by affording them with increased mobility and independence.

Eschenbach employees came together to build puppy giveaways to use for upcoming trade shows in order to raise awareness of the Partner Project campaign.
“I don’t think many ECPs understand value of a guide dog,” Bradley says. “I had a person who works with the visually impaired tell me, ‘A long cane is a useful tool, but it keeps the world at bay.’ With a guide dog, the visually impaired are able to be much more engaged with society. They can go out, meet new people, engage in various activities and, in general, live a more satisfying life.”

And given the increasing prevalence of visual impairment in the United States—data from the Eschenbach employees came together to build puppy giveaways to use for upcoming trade shows in order to raise awareness of the Partner Project campaign. National Eye Institute1 suggests that the population of those with age-related eye diseases that cause vision loss including age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, already at 37.1 million, will more than double by 2050 so the need for these living, breathing assistive “tools” will only become more paramount.

“With our aging population, the epidemic of diabetes and its related vision problems and many other factors, the needs of the visually impaired are only going to increase, and the ECP community is going to need to respond,” Bradley notes. “We’re hoping that the Eschenbach Partnership Program will help raise awareness of vision loss and the important role ECPs can play, while also helping to provide the visually impaired with information on an important resource.”

Those interested in following the progress of the guide dog benefitting from the Eschenbach Partner Project—the puppy was born just before Vision Expo West—can watch as he goes through this extraordinary journey online at https://www.eschenbach.com/partner_project.asp.


Reference

1. National Eye Institute infographics. Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationaleyeinstitute/sets/72157646733299877/with/15327473646/. Accessed October 1, 2018.