TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Since 2004, more than 2,100 students attending 23 Alabama colleges, universities and high schools have screened over 120,000 children in Alabama for eye diseases and disorders as part of their affiliation with FocusFirst – a signature project of Impact Alabama: A Student Service Initiative. Impact is the state’s first nonprofit organization dedicated to developing and implementing substantive service-learning projects in coordination with select universities and junior colleges throughout the state.

FocusFirst staff members plan to screen 493 children in Baldwin County Sept. 15 and 16 at the following locations:

Sept, 15:

• 8:30 a.m., Delta School, 10251 Whitehouse Fork Road Extension, Bay Minette.

• 8:30 a.m., Elberta Elementary, 25820 U.S. Highway 98, Elberta.

• 9 a.m., Bay Minette Elementary, 800 Blackburn Ave., Bay Minette.

• 9 a.m., Cross Roads Head Start, 9411 Hurrican Road, Bay Minette.

• 9 a.m., Magnolia School, 13317 County Road 55, Magnolia Springs.

• 9 a.m., Magnolia Springs Head Start, 13204 Country Road 26, Foley.

• 10:30 a.m., Stapleton School, 35480 Harriot Ave., Stapleton.

• 10:30 a.m., Foley Elementary, 450 N. Cedar St., Foley.

Sept. 16

• 9 a.m., Jubilee Head Start, 24044 U.S. Highway 98, Fairhope.

* 8:30 a.m., Loxley Elementary, 4999 S. Magnolia St., Loxley.

• 8:30 a.m., Elsanor Elementary, 23440 U.S. Highway 90, Robertsdale.

• 8:30 a.m., Silverhill Elementary, 15800 Fourth Ave., Silverhill.

• 8:30 a.m., Gulf Shores Elementary, 1600 E. Third St., Gulf Shores.

• 10:30 a.m., Swift School, 6330 Bon Secour Highway, Bon Secour.

• 10:30 a.m., Perdido School, 23589 County Road 47, Perdido.

• 10:30 a.m., Summerdale Elementary, 400 E. Broadway, Summerdale.

• 10:30 a.m., Rosinton Elementary, 19757 Country Road 64, Robertsdale.

• 10:30 a.m., Robertsdale Elementary, 19150 Wilters St., Robertsdale.

• 2 p.m., Kids Plus CDC, 900 S. Bay St., Foley.

A potential problem has been detected in approximately 11 percent of the Alabama children screened to date. All such children received or will receive fully subsidized follow up care, as necessary, under the supervision and coordination of Sight Savers America.

FocusFirst provides a cost-effective direct response to the vision problems of underprivileged children who live in urban and rural poverty in Alabama. FocusFirst student volunteers travel to communities of need and conduct vision screenings for children, six months to five years of age, using state-of-the-art photo-screening technology. Founder and President Stephen Black, a professor/attorney who has developed a Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at the University of Alabama, began implementing Impact in the fall of 2004. Impact now has 30 full-time staff members working out of the non-profit’s headquarters in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.

“We desperately need young people’s energies, perspectives, and talents to make our communities and institutions work well,” Black said. “I see the college years as an incredible opportunity to engage students in addressing human and community needs through structured service opportunities, while providing them with a sense of their ability as well as responsibility to affect structural change.”

To learn more about Impact, please visit its website at www.impactalabama.org or call Stephen Black at 205-936-9963.