Rio Rancho, NM—Edit House Productions, a 23-year-old Rio Rancho video production company, in conjunction with the Rio Rancho Community Foundation, provided special EnChroma glasses for color blindness to eight additional students in Rio Rancho schools on Wednesday, July 5th. Students received glasses, made for each of their specific vision needs, at Edit House Productions office and studio, located at 640 Quantum Road NE in Rio Rancho.
It’s estimated that one in 12 boys and one in 200 girls are affected by color blindness, typically when the person can’t see or distinguish between greens and reds. With nearly 17,000 students in the Rio Rancho Public School district, potentially 700 students are affected in the city.
In April, a Rio Rancho resident and military veteran, Ron Neldon, donated funds to purchase glasses that help overcome color blindness for 10 middle and high school students in the district. But there were more identified students that needed the EnChroma glasses than there were funds to purchase them.
“We know how important color is to how we perceive the world,” said Ed Smith, owner and founder of Edit House. “Our company produces visual media and perceiving color correctly is vital. We’re excited to be able to help overcome the dull and indistinct vision that color blindness causes and add much more vibrant color to these students’ educational and life experiences.”
Edit House Productions, LLC contributed to the Rio Rancho Community Foundation, which matched the funds. EnChroma, a California-based company that developed the specialized glasses in 2012, donates a pair of its glasses for each pair an organization purchases via its Color Accessibility Program, as well. Students, working with coordinator Ron Neldon, were able to choose the style of frame and lenses they preferred.
“When we saw the original news story and what Ron Neldon was working to do, we wanted to help fill the gap for the remaining students,” said Smith. “The Rio Rancho Community Foundation allowed us to designate the distribution and make this possible.”
The Rio Rancho Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization serves Sandoval County and was formed in 2007. “The Community Foundation raises funds each year through the Rio Rancho Mayor’s Gala to help our community and this was a wonderful opportunity to improve lives of these students,” said Carey Plant, president of the Community Foundation Board.
While people with normal color vision see over one million hues and shades, the color blind only see an estimated 10% of them. As a result, colors can appear dull, indistinct, and difficult to discern. This can make understanding colored information in graphs, charts, presentations, maps, and material written in certain colors problematic.
