How Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief can help your practice

April 5, 2026

What an Oklahoma practice was able to obtain with a grant from Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief after a tornado.

Nathan Kuykendall Hero Image

Excerpted from page 56 of the Winter 2025 edition of AOA Focus

When a tornado hit in May 2024, parts of Claremore, Oklahoma, were severely damaged. Around Eye Care of Claremore’s office, power lines were down, utilities were cut off and non-local traffic was diverted. Once the streets were deemed safe, the optometrists at Eye Care of Claremore had a decision to make.

“We contemplated staying closed until the utilities were operational but knew there were many patients who needed to have their glasses and contacts replaced after losing them in the storm,” says Nathan Kuykendall, O.D., an optometrist in the practice.

To get up and running again, Eye Care of Claremore applied for a grant from Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief (OFDR), an AOA Foundation program providing immediate financial relief for critical and urgent needs, such as food, clothing, shelter and infrastructure.

“Thanks to the OFDR grant, we added these new components [see below] to our practice,” Dr. Kuykendall says, “without having to carry the weight of completely funding all the changes.

Commercial-grade generator. This not only powered our suite, but the entire building complex. We split the cost of renting the generator with the other tenants.

Wireless hotspot. We connected a hot spot to our router, enabling our computers, credit card machines and VoIP phone systems to operate without an internet connection.

VoIP phone upgrade. We were already using a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system but leaned more heavily into the mobile capabilities it offered, such as allowing staff to log in using their own phone for patient correspondence.

Work-from-home option. We moved some staff—primarily billers and schedulers—to work from home, and many continue to do so in some capacity today.

Standing meetings. Because we had to “work on the fly” each day, we implemented short, daily team meetings to ensure everyone was informed. We still do them today.

OFDR: Here when you need to rebuild

Optometry's Fund for Disaster Relief (OFDR), a program of The AOA Foundation, has changed the lives of doctors and students by providing immediate financial relief for critical and urgent needs, such as food, clothing and shelter. OFDR can provide support to impacted doctors and students, helping them to continue delivering critical patient care during times of crisis. Learn how to apply for a grant and how to share your support as the program celebrates 20 years.

LEARN MORE

How Optometry’s Fund for Disaster Relief can help your practice

OFDR: Here when you need to rebuild

This content is available to AOA members only