Mastic girl donates light protectors to elementary school

Suffolk County Legis. Rudy Sunderman recently joined with young Caitlyn Michiels, the founder of the nonprofit organization Caitlyn’s Vision, as she donated 300 sets of light covers to the William Floyd School District’s Moriches Elementary School. The purpose of these light covers is to help children who suffer either from seizure disorders or from eye conditions. These light covers help to relieve the strain on children’s eyes and can help provide a calmer experience in the classroom.

Over the past year, Caitlyn, of Mastic, has been raising funds to promote eye
health and safety through her nonprofit. The proceeds from her fundraisers
have been used to purchase protective light covers for schools to help protect
children who have preexisting eye conditions. Caitlyn will also be providing
blue lens glasses for students who will be participating in distance learning for the coming school year to protect their eyes from an increase in screen time.

“I wanted to get these light covers because my teacher bought them for me last year,” said Caitlyn. “They helped me so much, and I wanted to be able to help other students like me.”

Caitlyn began her mission to promote children’s eye health and safety awareness after she was diagnosed with a rare eye disease known as anterior bilateral uveitis, a disease that is the third-leading cause of blindness in children. After receiving this diagnosis she became an advocate for children with eye diseases throughout the country. She started the nonprofit Caitlyn’s Vision and began fundraising campaigns and donation drives to collect used eyeglasses and to raise money to promote her cause. As a result of these fundraising campaigns, she was able to acquire and donate these light covers to the William Floyd SchoolDistrict to benefit her peers who face similar difficulties.