MUSCATINE – As a small-town company, the Vision Center PC team always tries to focus on ways to help their community beyond just helping find the perfect frames for someone. Now, thanks to a new eyewear collection and a partnership with the Muscatine Parks and Recreation team, Vision Center hopes to add a little extra green to Muscatine.
This week, Vision Center announced that, alongside the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, it will be launching a new project focused on planting trees in Muscatine as well as surrounding areas. For every purchase of Botaniq eyewear, Vision Center will donate a tree to be planted in the community.
According to Vision Center optician Tawnya Strause, the project came about after a Tura representative visited the office.
“(Our rep) came in and she had this new line, and she was so excited to see how earth-friendly everything with (the Botaniq line) is and how they’re trying to ‘replant the earth’ with trees” , Strause explained. . “With every frame Tura sold, they were going to plant a tree somewhere in the world.”
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After installing the line, the Vision Center team quickly decided to plant trees for the Muscatine community in addition to helping Tura plant trees. Since receiving the line, the Vision Center has already sold about 15 Botaniq frames, according to Strause.
“The frames are unique and fun,” she said. “They are very comfortable. We have both plastic and metal frames with nose pads, as well as men’s and women’s frames in this line, so there’s something for everyone and it’s all eco-friendly.
To kick off this massive project, the Vision Center team will plant a large initial tree at Riverside Park on the morning of September 20. Park Maintenance Superintendent Nick Gow and Landscape Horticulturist Melissa Baker of Parks and Rec will be there to help.
“(The Department of Parks and Recreation) was really excited,” Strause said. “I think a couple of the bigger companies in town have also done some projects with trees. That we are a small company and also wanted to do something, they were very enthusiastic. »
25 saplings are also being purchased from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), with these saplings being cared for by Gow and Baker ahead of their future planting day, which will likely be in the spring of 2023.
While there is no specific goal in mind for the two-year project, Strause said she hopes she and her team can plant as many trees as possible, with a chance to extend this. two-year project if the campaign is successful.
“I’m a mother, and I think it’s our responsibility to keep the Earth healthy for generations to come,” Strause said. “Vision Center has also always partnered and done things in our community for our people who live here, so I think (this project) is just another opportunity for us to help the community and put more trees on the planet.”
