Doing good: Proof Eyewear receives IF Social Impact Prize

Proof Eyewear has received the IF Social Impact Prize 2021 in the ‘Fight Poverty’ category, for its Do Good programme in Peru.

As part of the sustainable eyewear brand’s efforts to ‘give back,’ a portion of every purchase is donated to its Do Good programme to support charities and projects around the world.

This includes its Peru Project, established in 2019 in partnership with HELP International. The $20k project funded a number of services including eye care and dental care and projects ranging from economic development and education to environmental conservation. 

The brand highlighted that, according to Peru’s National Statistics Institute, the country’s poverty rate rose in 2017 to its highest numbers in 16 years, and 375,000 more people became impoverished. 6.9 million Peruvians live in poverty, 44% of whom are in rural Peru.

The IF Design Foundation’s Social Impact Prize aims to recognise and support projects that contribute to society and is judged by a 13-person jury made up of people across the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, China, Taiwan and Africa.
 
Proof Eyewear explained that it received the award for its work in the Peru Project, designed to “give the local population the right tools to build a better life with the thought that the smallest gesture can positively influence someone’s life.”

“We are very grateful to the IF Design Foundation for this recognition,” the eyewear brand shared in a statement, thanking the volunteers involved and recognising the role of HELP International.

The company explained that its projects were impacted by the pandemic, adding: “As long as we cannot guarantee the safety of our people, we will look for other opportunities to give back and do good.”

“One of these options is a partnership with Eden Reforestation that allows us to plant five mangrove trees in Africa for every frame sold,” the brand shared. “We cannot realise this and all other Do Good initiatives without our customers, who have confidence in our products.”

The sustainable eyewear brand, founded in 2010 in the US, launched its UK website in July 2020 ready to receive orders from optometrists.