MASON, Ohio—At the “virtual Partner Day” hosted last week by Luxottica Group’s (NYSE: LUX) Luxottica Retail division, executives of the Luxottica Foundation’s Give the Gift of Sight Program outlined new goals for the year ahead, while giving a progress report on the program’s successes in the past 12 months.

This year, Give the Gift of Sight plans 20 international missions to bring eyecare and free eyewear to people in need in developing countries; seven of those missions have been completed so far in 2008, according to Greg Hare, executive director of the Give the Gift of Sight Foundation. In addition, the program will provide eyecare and eyewear through 20 clinics in U.S. cities; six of those have been done so far. Also, Gift of Sight’s two Vision Vans are scheduled to make 32 stops, helping 3,000 people.

Hare said the program is now putting more emphasis on children’s eyecare, with two missions specifically targeting children planned for this year. And the program is partnering with ophthalmology to refer patients in contact with Gift of Sight both internationally and in the U.S. for ophthalmologic services such as cataract surgery.

Looking ahead, Hare said Gift of Sight is seeking support to create mobile optical labs, so it can make eyewear onsite during community visits. In addition, new “satellite missions” to go deeper into communities are also on the drawing board.

With a goal of raising $3 million this year to fund its projects, Gift of Sight held an online auction as part of the virtual Partner Day. That electronic auction, which runs through 4 p.m. on June 20 at www.givethegiftofsight.org, had raised $22,000 by June 12, according to Susan Knobler, director of development for the Give the Gift of Sight Foundation. In addition, another online auction that ran during the meeting—offering a golf/dinner outing with Dave Plogmann, Luxottica Retail’s senior vice president of optical product, and dinner with Liz DiGiandomenico, senior vice president and general manager of EyeMed Vision Care—raised another $20,750.