Jenifer Ambler, OD, of Brattleboro, Vermont, recently received a letter that is worth hanging onto. It wasn’t a thank-you note from a patient. It came from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor, thanking her for her efforts to send a donation to the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, School of Optometry, (IAUPR) following Hurricane Maria.
Justice Sotomayor wrote, “I wanted to take a moment to convey to you how important efforts such as yours are in repairing the island. What a meaningful way to make use of your specialized skills.”
Dr. Ambler and friends in the local rotary worked to package six large boxes of eyeglasses, sunglasses and readers. “I was responding to an appeal from Michael Ciszek, OD, on ODs on Facebook, who said that the IAUPR needed eyeglasses so it could do clinics in the countryside for the hurricane victims who had lost everything. I had lots of eyeglasses stockpiled in my garage,” she says.
Dr. Ambler is no stranger to helping meet eye care needs overseas. She’s a member of the board of directors for Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) and has been on multiple trips to El Salvador, both with VOSH and with her local Rotary group.
