WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Two companies, IFB Solutions and Luxexcel, celebrated one year of their partnership by giving out glasses to Winston-Salem and Forsyth County children.

  • IFB Solutions, based out of Winston-Salem, is the largest employer of the blind or visually impaired.
  • Luxexcel is the first company to 3D print prescription lenses.
  • Seventeen children received free glasses.

IFB Solutions, based out of Winston-Salem, is the largest employer of the blind or visually impaired. Luxexcel is the first company to 3D print prescription lenses.

"On our printer, you can tell the printer to make you a lens and it creates that lens right there and then. A lot of people told us 'no way, you cannot 3D print lenses.' We actually showed that is possible," Luxexcel President Guido Grot said.

Seventeen children received free glasses.

"It was a little bit hard trying to see from my table to the board at school. Now I've got these glasses and I can see at school," said glasses recipient Keiari.

The Chief Operating Officer at IFB Solutions said it is a cause that hits close to home.

"My son Jack also has a vision impairment. This is so important to me as an individual who's blind and to my son that being able to see in the classroom is an essential way to participate in daily life and activities," Dan Kelly said.

Keiari said she is excited to show off her new specs.

"I'm so excited to go to school and show people my new glasses. They're cute," she said.