When Dr. Mierzynski received her January ZEISS Point Partner statement, she had a lightbulb moment – what if she put her ZEISS Partner Points toward helping to make the Waterloo’s School of Optometry & Vision Science’s dream of the Waterloo Eye Institute a reality?
“After speaking with my ZEISS agent Tanis Greene, I was able to contribute $850 toward the School’s WEI efforts – totally found money!” says Dr. Mierzynski (OD’91). “Together with the School, I wanted to make it easy for other ODs to give back in the same way. If we could all have the option to donate our points, it could collectively have a big impact on the development of the WEI.”
The School is currently amid a $35 million campaign to build a two-story, 67,000 square-foot cutting edge Waterloo Eye Institute (WEI) – Canada’s premier eye and vision care centre. The WEI will be a combination of existing and new facilities, blending clinical patient-care spaces with education and innovation. Using the eye as a window to the brain, Waterloo will leverage its expertise in biomedical sciences, artificial intelligence and imaging at the WEI to study and create treatments for vision, diabetes, macular degeneration, glaucoma, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
While points are normally redeemed at $0.70, Carl Zeiss Vision Canada Inc. will match each gifted point with an additional $0.30 to bring each point contribution up to an even dollar.
“We all know that the loss of eyesight greatly impacts quality of life,” says Bryan Rossi, President of Carl Zeiss Vision Canada Inc. “We are very proud to partner with Waterloo in support of this critical initiative and invite our ZEISS Partner accounts to consider making a contribution - your gift will go towards creating a higher standard of care for those in need.”
“The School of Optometry & Vision Science is grateful to Carl Zeiss Vision Canada Inc. for supporting our vision for the WEI, Canada’s soon-to-be premier eye and vision centre,” says Dr. Stanley Woo, UWOVS director. “By working together with us on this unique partnership, we are providing the profession with another type of opportunity to give back and help us achieve a better future for eye and vision care across Canada.”
Now a few months later, Dr. Andrea Mierzynski is pleased to see how her hard work has helped to bring the partnership to fruition. “I wanted to mark my milestone thirtieth year in practice, and it has been an easy decision to give back to the School. I have enhanced my skills so much over my career due to technological advancements, continuing education and research. It’s important to me to be able to give back to the university that gave me the education I needed to launch a successful and rewarding career in optometry,” says Dr. Mierzynski. “Helping to launch this innovative new partnership has been very meaningful, as I know it will help us get one step closer to making the WEI a reality – a place that will be pivotal in training the next generation of optometrists.”
To participate in this program, optometrists should contact their ZEISS agents directly.
