15
A Vision For All Of
Manatee’s Children…
WORDS: Bre Jones Mulock
PICTURES: Whitney Patton
The bustle of Dr. Michael Mackie’s
morning had already roared into
full throttle several years ago as he
popped in and out of exam rooms caring
for patients seeking treatment from a
kaleidoscope of ocular diseases to dry
eyes. While focused on his intense daily
juggle, an unexpected visitor breezed
through the doors at Eye Center Inc.,
baring a beautiful gift that served as a
heart-warmer and eye-opener for this
Bradenton optometrist.
Head nurse for the School District of
Manatee County at the time, Sue Troxler
placed a thick scrapbook before him.
Carefully flipping the pages as if it was
a coveted book revealing a vital story,
Mackie, who practices alongside his
wife and fellow optometrist Dr. Sarah
Mackie, smiled as years of charitable
work unfolded before him.
Pictures of underprivileged Manatee
County children sporting glasses and
wide, toothy grins stared back at him.
Thoughtful, hand-written thank-you notes
from these kids adorned the pages.
Without the Mackies’ in-kind eye exams
and glasses, these students might still be
fidgeting at their desks struggling to see
the board – struggling to learn and grasp
opportunity.
“After seeing this scrapbook, Sarah and I
looked at each other and realized we were
making a difference in our community, but
we also realized we could make it better,”
said Michael Mackie, a Bradenton native
who knows the local waterways like the
back of his hand. “This book inspired us
to do more. What started as giving back
to our community growing in an organic
way, evolved into something better.”
Passionate about helping others, especially
children who might not otherwise be
able to afford the treatment they need,
the Mackies created the Eye Center Inc.
Vision Foundation, a non-profit organization
committed to providing eye care and
glasses to underprivileged Manatee
County children. In addition, the Vision
Foundation provides free glasses to
Turning Points, whose mission is to provide,
coordinate, and facilitate services to the
homeless and those at risk of becoming
homeless throughout Manatee County.
With eye-catching statistics from the state,
the Vision Foundation helps fill a desperate
void in the community. According to a
report released by the Florida Department
of Health in 2017, a large number of
students who fail vision-screening tests in
Sarasota and Manatee counties continue
to miss critical information and squint to
see the board.
Nearly 75 percent of the roughly 800
Manatee County students who need eye
care continue to attend class without
glasses or with outdated prescriptions,
the report states. While two state-funded
programs – Florida Heiken Children’s
Vision Program and Florida’s Vision Quest
– help get glasses to children in need,
they only serve uninsured students.
“We realized there was a need and we
could make a real impact if we started
a foundation to take it to the next level,”
said Michael Mackie who admits Sarah is
the real workhorse behind the foundation.
“We see a number of children each year
who need more than what we can give
them. Sometimes they need surgery and
need to see a specialist. The Foundation
helps offset the costs for them.”
A teenager recently absorbed the shock
of a cataracts diagnosis and needed
Dr. Sarah Mackie, Dr. Madison Easterling, Dr. Paige Laudicina, and Dr. Brad Laudicina
along with a PACE Center For Girls student supporting PACE.