"He is a magician": Retired optician fixes students' eyeglasses for free
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- For the last two years, retired optician-turned-volunteer Dave Schneiderhan has been fixing eyeglasses free of charge for students in Minneapolis and St. Paul, with help from a program through Allina Health.
"On my left side it goes down like this, so I constantly have to fix it," explained Pablo Solano, a 7th grader at Farnsworth Aerospace Magnet School in St. Paul. "The ball hit my face right here and they broke."
Solano is one of over a dozen students at Farnsworth Aerospace's Upper Campus getting his eyeglasses repaired.
"This is a tough one. Your hinge is pretty bent," explained Schneiderhan.
After 43 years as an optician, Schneiderhan had a vision of giving back during retirement with his former employer Allina Health.
"I worked with Dave at Phillips Eye Institute closely and he always said when he retired, he wanted to come back and work for our program and volunteer. And, in fact, he did," said Cheryle Atkin, supervisor of community programs for Allina Health.
For the last two years, Schneiderhan has given his time through Allina's Early Youth Eyecare program which provides vision screenings and eye treatment to children in the Twin Cities. It also operates the Kirby Puckett Eye Mobile. "Dave is a wizard. He is a magician with his hands, his skills."
Not all of his handiwork is fixing what's broken; often it's adjusting glasses that haven't been fitted properly.
"Based on economic constraints, a lot of these students will get a pair of glasses online or their parents will get them, but they never get adjusted," said Schneiderhan. "If they're out of adjustment and they sit down on their nose or they're crooked, that changes where the optical center of the lens fits on their face, it's not the proper prescription."
Solano's glasses required Schneiderhan to MacGyver the repair.
"What I need is a pin from, believe it or not, a bulletin board," said Schneiderhan.
With a thumb tack in hand, he was able to make a temporary fix for Solano. Allina's Early Youth Eyecare team will work to get him a new pair.
Schneiderhan says he's enjoying helping and getting to know the kids from kindergarten up to the middle schoolers visiting him today.
"You know kids. They are absolutely adorable and they're just fun to work with," said Schneiderhan.
Glasses or not, it's easy to see the volunteer spirit in Schneiderhan, although he humbly downplays his role.
"I don't view this as volunteering or work at all," said Schneiderhan.
Schneiderhan visits schools every Monday and Tuesday during the school year. His services and all of the others in the Early Youth Eyecare program are provided without any cost for the school districts or their families.