While at Boston College in 2012, second-year medical student Garred Greenberg had an idea. His mother’s church group distributed recycled prescription eyeglasses to economically disadvantaged Guatemalans. “It was a low-cost, low-tech service, yet it had a profound impact on people’s lives,” he observed recently. “What if we could bump up the volume?” Mr. Greenberg and his sister Megan translated their idea into action, and “Glasses for Guatemala” (G4G) was born.

Later in 2012, Mr. Greenberg packed up 900 pairs of recycled eyeglasses provided by a local Lions Club and headed to Guatemala City. He stayed at the home of the secretary general of the Concejo Ecumenico (CE), a Christian service group, and his wife, a CE coordinator, in the nearby city of Chimaltenango. From there the eyewear went out to Guatemala City, Chimaltenango and the city of Quetzaltenango. More trips followed, and to date G4G has delivered 8,500 pairs of eyeglasses, supplied mostly by the Lions Club. To learn more, visit www.glassesforguatemala.com.