M
VISIONS OF GRATITUDE
McCulley Optix Gallery Celebrates a Decade of Success by Donating to Local Charities Words by Kim Malakowsky | Photography by Dennis Krull, 5foot20 Design Lounge
March 6, 2016 marked the 10th anniversary of McCulley Optix Gallery opening its doors as a premier eye-care clinic and boutique optical in south Fargo. A proud member of the Fargo-Moorhead business community, Dr. Melissa McCulley is quick to credit others for reaching this milestone. “I am thankful for my fabulous staff and for all our patients who have supported us and for the whole community of Fargo that has supported us, visited us, bought glasses, kept coming back and referring their friends and family,” said McCulley. “That’s what it’s all about, we wouldn’t be here if people didn’t do a great job supporting us.”
Open House Celebration McCulley and her staff of five are excited for an April 28 celebration that will include a ribbon cutting and open house. As part of the celebration, McCulley Optix Gallery will honor one local charity each month with a $1000 dona-
52
tion, March – December, for a total of $10,000 going to local charities. The process begins with patients and community members nominating their favorite charity. Charities can be nominated by visiting McCulley’s website or Facebook page, or by stopping at the office. The first two winning charities will receive checks at the open house on April 28. Others will be presented throughout the year.
Giving Back Compassion for the patient and the concept of giving back has been a thread running through Dr. McCulley’s career since she first started studying optometry. Trips to Costa Rica and Chimbote, Peru provided not only education, but also helped set the tone for her work to come. She described an encounter while in Peru, “I’ll never forget one patient, he was maybe a
20-year-old guy. His job was to drive truck, and just to have a job was a super big deal, and he was so near sighted he wouldn’t even be able to see across the room never mind his job was to be on the highway driving truck. He got glasses and his jaw just dropped when he put them on, he was just looking around the room, He’d never been able to see at a distance, it was a life changing moment for him.” Today, Dr. McCulley is an InfantSEE provider. McCulley performs a one-time, no-cost, eye and vision assessment for infants between six months and one year of age. “I encourage all parents to bring their infants in for a wellness exam. They would have no idea if they couldn’t see clearly and the baby wouldn’t act any differently, they would act normal,” said McCulley.
Day by Day A typical day in the office includes general optometry, eye care, contact lenses and a lot of