In many a movie there's often a time when metaphorically "the cavalry comes along"....and against all odds, everyone is saved - and that's what exactly what's happened to us.

With Lions Recycle For Sight only able to fill less than half of the spectacles we had requested, it put the Eyeglass Assist Solomon Islands project in jeopardy. Without sufficient time left to sort enough recycled spectacles we turned our focus towards new glasses, expecting that we would need to purchase them. We were hoping that companies - suppliers, distributors or importers would have "old stock" that they would be prepared to sell at a price we could afford. So, deep in the depths of despair, we started searching for a solution to this our latest hurdle. But we had come too far to give in at this late stage and we believed that we might still be able to cut enough corners to make the project viable.

That's when the first of the cavalry stepped in, Paul Kelly from PKA Products in Brisbane (www.pkaproducts.com.au). He spoke to his importer (auslinktrading.com) and they managed to find 800 pairs of old stock (but new and perfectly serviceable) and they were happy to supply them to the project without any cost. Frances and I were taken aback by Paul's generous offer, it's not something we had expected. With Paul's help we had made a promising start to this new challenge.

Over a period of many days making many phone calls and sending emails to companies involved with eyeglasses, we stumbled across Chris Boydell, managing director of a company called "On The Nose" (www.onthenose.com.au). A few emails passed back and forth and one thing led to another, and Chris told us that he could supply us with the glasses we needed (he had 5,800 pairs available) and he said "from our point of view, if you are giving these to needy people, then we don't want to charge you". We were speechless. It's not something we expected - we hadn't approached any business to donate spectacles to the project, time was not on our side, but here were two businesses - On the Nose and PKA products who, out of kindness and compassion, were doing just that.

Their generosity will be a major factor in the Solomon Islands Project becoming a reality and giving 10,000 people in remote places there better sight. We'd appreciate if everyone visit their Facebook pages and "like" them. And if in anyway you can support them personally or via your business, you know that you are dealing with companies and people who want to help make a difference. If this story doesn't make you feel good then we're not really sure what will. Our sincere thanks again to OnTheNose and PKA Products.