NEW YORK—The optical industry is full of amazing people and organizations doing amazing things for those in need. For example, VisionSpring, a member of Vision Monday’s A Greater Vision collective, was recently featured in the CBS Evening News segment “The American Spirit.” The social enterprise empowers women in the developing world to start businesses selling low-cost eyeglasses. View the video on VM WebTV.

Or how about blind mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer addressing the more than 2,000 attendees at the Vision Source North American annual meeting about pushing beyond conventional thinking to achieve greater heights? Inspired by this fearless adventurer, the meeting themed itself Summit 2010. Read about it in the New & Noteworthy section of VisionMonday.com.

Here’s another example: Augen Optics has announced its participation in Ver Bien Para Aprender Mejor (or “See Better to Learn Better”), a program in Mexico that distributes free eyeglasses annually to public school children throughout the country. Learn about how the industry is helping our neighbor to the south in A Greater Vision. And to learn more about See Better to Learn Better, click here.

At the end of the day, being philanthropic is just plain classy. Speaking of classy, with all the flash and gossip in Hollywood, it is easy to lose track of the few famous faces that always keep it classy and are rarely fodder for the paparazzi. In the latest edition of Bold Face: I Got Style, I Got Class, we highlight three such elegant individuals and their stylish sunwear from Marchon, Modo and Luxottica.