At Bright Eyes, we believe in strong relationships with the community. In addition to providing eye care for those in need, we have been longstanding supporters of  the YMCA.

I routinely work out at the Y and since this year has been quite cold, I’ve especially enjoyed the spin classes, also called studio cycling.  So I was excited to see that there was going to be a spin fundraiser: The Spinathon on Saturday, March 20th at the New Tampa YMCA!

The idea is simple: A person or team of people will do four consecutive hours of spin class. They take donations to raise money for the YMCA Building Strong Kids Campaign. The Building Strong Kids Campaign is a nation-wide campaign to raise money for after-school care, swim lesson, camps, leadership training, and other programs for kids not just in Hillsborough County, but around the country.

Why donations? (Get it? “Y Donations!”, lol ) From the YMCA webpage: “Simply put, your gift changes lives. Every dollar given to the YMCA goes directly to help children and families participate in YMCA memberships and programs, regardless of their financial circumstances. Through YMCA involvement, families become closer, children grow and blossom, seniors discover new energy, and those with disabilities find new abilities and new hope.”

Check out this wonderful video about  Building  Strong Kids, click here.

And if you like to read some wonderful testimonials, click here.

The entire staff of Bright Eyes will be taking turns spinning away for four hours straight. We are planning on getting team shirts and everything. You won’t miss us. It will be a blast!

There are three ways to support us in the Spinathon:

1) Drop a donation in the Spinathon box at Bright Eyes: check or cash is fine.

2) Use this handy Chipin widget via Paypal. (It is SO easy!)

3) You can donate directly to YMCA: Just click here and then tell us how much you donated for our team!

Look forward to photos and results! Let us know if you’d rather your gift be anonymous. Or consider forming a team of you own!!

UPDATE:  To ensure that we reach our goal, we will be donating 5% of all sales on glasses to the Spin-a-thon between now and March 20th. If you’d like to match our donation, then let us know!

GO TEAM BRIGHT EYES!

-Dr. Nate
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
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Note – There are lots of great bloggers in Tampa and we’re going to begin showcasing their talents with periodic guest posts. This is a great way to further strengthen ties with the community. This first guest post is by Laura Petrolino of Flying Pig Communications. – Dr. Nate.

You visit the grocery store to find the cashier remembers your name and asks about the sick child you had come in last week to buy cough syrup for….

What do you do?

The manager at your favorite restaurant surprises you by giving you a complimentary lunch, for no reason other than as a thank you for your continued business…..

What do you do?

You go to have your hair cut by a new stylist, who not only takes you late and treats you rudely, but also leaves you with a Beatles inspired mop-top……..

What do you do?

Read the rest of this entry »

This is cool! Localshops1.com has featured me on the very popular “Sticks of Fire” blog, in a piece called, “Bright Eyes See Social Media Work“:

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, better known as “Dr. Nate” among patients, friends … and Twitterbuddies (but more on that in just a bit) opened his business, Bright Eyes Family Vision Care, in 2006 in Westchase. The family-friendly neighborhood in Tampa is ideal for Bright Eyes, which focuses on family vision care, with a big emphasis on eye care for children and even infants.

Now, about the Twitter stuff, business people especially should listen up. Dr. Nate is a great role model for business owners on how to effectively use social media to market their business. On Facebook and Twitter, Dr. Nate has established himself as THE vision care expert among the Tampa Bay social media world. More than 1,000 people follow him on Twitter@BrightEyesTampa; on Facebook, Bright Eyes Tampa has almost 150 fans. Dr. Nate has even been known to help quite a few neighboring businesses get on board in the social media world. “Get involved with social media as early as possible,” Dr. Nate tells other entrepreneurs. “We have really made connections and strengthened Bright Eyes via the Bright Eyes News blog, Facebook, and Twitter.”

The piece then goes on to interview me about the good and bad of small business owner, advice for other entrepreneurs  and my opinions on the recession. Check out the whole thing here.

Thanks to Localshops1.com for making this possible! And remember, you can pick up a 1Card at Bright Eyes and use your 1 card for a Bright Eyes discount! You can see our Ls1 listing here.

Dr. Bonilla-Warford
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Westchase, Tampa, FL
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Here at Bright Eyes, we have amazing patients that do very cool things. I am always interested in what people are doing and enjoy the conversations that we have during the eye exams. Sometimes I will spotlight them.

Today I was lucky enough to be the focus of a very cool and generous post by Randy Watson (AKA The Wine Whore). If you don’t already know him, he is a very funny, genuine wine blogger, twitter fanatic,  friend, and a patient.

So check it out! Check out the rest of his blog. And if you are feeling up to it, leave a comment. And don’t forget to get your turn on the Cabernet Couch!

Cheers!

Dr. Bonilla-Warford
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Westchase, Tampa, FL
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We love to take part in local activities, especially when it benefits a good cause.

The Spring Fling is coming April 5th! The benefit is being hosted by the Westchase YMCA, but many West Park Village merchants will be participating. From 10 am to 6 pm, Village stores will be hosting special events and promotions. From 3 to 9 pm, Reeves Import Motorcars will showcase luxury cars near the fountain past West Park Village. And from 7 to 9 pm, the YMCA will host the dinner and silent auction at Bellisimo Ristorante. Featuring live music and a wine tasting, the Spring Fling promises to be loads of fun.

Bright Eyes will be donating a pair of Tiffany & Co. sunglasses for the silent auction. All proceeds from the dinner and auction benefit the YMCA’s 2008 Building Strong Kids Campaign.

If you have questions about the Spring Fling, contact the Westchase YMCA at 792-7838.

Be Well!

Dr. Bonilla-Warford
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care

While talking with patients during the beginning of each comprehensive vision exam, patients are sometimes surprised at some of the questions I ask that don’t seem to have a lot to do with the eyes. These are questions such as how much time do you spend in front of the computer?, what type of surgery have you had?, how much do you smoke?, how much exercise do you and your family get?

Depending on the answers, I’ll explain why I ask. Some types of surgery, even if they are on seemingly unrelated body parts such as the neck or abdomen, can be for conditions that affect the eyes. Eliminating smoking is one of the best things you can do to preserve your vision as you get older. Exercise not only makes you feel better, but time spent exercising instead of doing activities that cause eye strain (such as computer work or text messaging) can help stop nearsightedness from increasing.

I ask these question because it is my goal to improve a patient’s overall health, not just their vision. With this in mind, Bright Eyes Family Vision Care supports worthwhile organizations with similar goals of health. One of these is the YMCA.

At West Park Village we are very lucky to have the West Park Village YMCA Express because it is so convenient. During lunch, I can go use the cardio machines, stretch, lift weights, and (of course) shower before my afternoon patients. I know that many others like to work out at the YMCA too, because almost every day I see patients walk by the office in their work out clothes.

But this isn’t new for me; I’ve always liked the Y. When I was a kid I learned to swim in what seemed like the enormous YMCA swimming pool in Helena, Montana. When I see children in the groups at the Y near my house, it reminds me of the summer groups that I used to go. Now that I have a daughter, we have a family membership and can all go!

With so many activities that Y offers, one can forget the mission that makes it all possible. The core values of the YMCA are Faith, Caring, Honesty, Respect, and Responsibility. I think more organizations could include these ideals within their mission statement and be very successful. If you want to find out more about the YMCA and its philosophy, check it out here.

To me, one of the great purposes of the YMCA is that it supports each of us to become productive citizens. This includes taking charge of our own health. In this day of everything from super-huge servings sizes, drive-through Pharmacies, and 50-hour a week desk jobs, I think we need this more than ever. It is so much easier to stay in shape than to get back into shape. I know it can be hard to make health a priority, but it only takes a small amount of time each day to make it happen.

So maybe I’ll see you at the YMCA tomorrow when I go to work out!

Be Well!

Dr. Bonilla-Warford
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care

I figure that if I learn only one thing every day, I’ll have learned a lot each year. Well, if I learned only one thing on Wednesday, November 14th it was this: teachers work hard.

During a given day at Bright Eyes, I stay pretty busy. Between seeing patients, making phone calls, and writing reports, there is not a lot of downtime during the day. But last Wednesday, I was more exhausted by 11:00 A.M., then I often am after a full day. Why? Because I spent the morning volunteer teaching at Westchase Elementary during the annual Great American Teach In.

If you have not heard about the Great American Teach In, it is an annual event where people from the community donate their time to teach students in the local schools. You can read local stories about it here and here. Many of the volunteers have children in the school, so for them it is a chance for to visit the classrooms that their kids spend so much time in, while talking about their careers or hobbies. And people come to talk about all kinds of things. While I was there, I spoke to an Electric Engineer, a Dentist, a Martial Arts Instructor, and a Financial Advisor.

After college, I taught field trips at Silver Springs Nature Park, so I have spoken to groups of kids before. Then it was easy to keep the attention of children, because I had alligators, huge lizards, birds, and snakes to show them. Talking about eyes can be a little less interesting (and a lot less hands-on.) When I speak to children, my goal is be as interactive as possible while getting a few points across. My main points on Wednesday were that our eyes do many important things such as see, blink and move, and that there are many ways an eye doctor checks the things that eyes do.

I was scheduled to guest-teach four 4th and 5th grade classrooms in a 2 hour period. I did see some many of mypatients who are students, parents, and employees of Westchase Elementary, but mostly it was about 100 young strangers that I spent my morning with. To help keep these children interested, I asked many questions, called for volunteers, and brought demonstrations to pass around. I kept the energy high and it seemed to be effective, and after 2 straight hours, I was exhausted but felt satisified.

I must say, the Great American Teach In was a great experience. If you’ve always wanted to be a teacher or have a career or hobby that you want to share, you should consider volunteering next year. Not only is this a chance to teach children about something that you love, but it is unbelievably rewarding as well.

Be Well!

Dr. Bonilla-Warford
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care

Two very cool things are going on in Tampa Bay during October. The first is my birthday. I will be another year older and, hopefully, wiser. The second (and probably more important) is that thousands of eye doctors and vision specialists are coming to St. Pete and Tampa from all over the world to discuss the most current vision science research and patient care.

These specialists are coming to our community to attend two major meetings. The first one, held at the Vinoy in St. Petersburg, is the annual meeting for the College of Optometrists in Visual Development. This is the premier organization for doctors who treat visual problems in children and provide vision therapy. I have been deeply involved with this organization since Optometry school. It is wonderful because it is made up of energetic doctors and vision therapists who deeply care about their patients.

The other meeting, held at the Tampa convention center, is the annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry. This huge meeting presents the very latest research in all aspects of visual science: from infant vision to glaucoma management to contact lens advances.

Two of the most exciting areas that I am looking forward to are myopia (nearsightedness) control and orthokeratology (Precise Corneal Reshaping), topics that I have have long had an interest in.

Now, I realize that not everyone is going to get as excited as I am about these two meetings, but consider this: almost every other attendee had to pack a suitcase, fly or drive all day, and stay in a hotel. I, on the other hand, was able to attend committee meetings and lectures during the day and while eating dinner with my family and sleeping in my own bed at night. And, to me, that is a great birthday present!

Be well!

Dr. Bonilla-Warford
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Westchase, Tampa, FL
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