Music Under the Stars, an annual fundraising spectacular sponsored by Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, was highlighted by the unveiling of renderings of a new mobile optometric unit, donated by the Miami Marlins and Major League Baseball, which will be presented in July as part of their All-Star Legacy Initiative.
Music Under the Stars benefited Miami Lighthouse’s Florida Heiken Children’s Vision Program. The new mobile optometric unit will empower the Heiken program to expand its statewide mission, which promotes vision health among school children.
Celebrated at Brickell City Centre on May 24, Music Under the Stars featured special performances by students and faculty of the Miami Lighthouse Music Program, gourmet food and fine wine catered by Brickell City Centre restaurants, a fabulous silent auction and a raffle for Brickell City Centre shops gift certificates.
The fundraiser also honored Dr. Sidney J. Stern, past president of the Miami-Dade Optometric Physicians Association, who was instrumental in creating the Heiken program.
The Florida Heiken Children’s Vision Program, a subsidiary of Miami Lighthouse, provides free comprehensive eye examinations and glasses when prescribed to low-income school children who fail their state-mandated vision screenings and have no insurance or other financial resources for eye care. Since its inception in 1992, it has given exams to more than 111,000 children throughout Florida, 80 percent of whom required glasses.
