Three weeks ago, in recounting my participation in Charity Day at Cantor Fitzgerald, I mentioned that FFB had established October as Save Your Vision Month (SYVM). Well, now it’s here, so I wanted to reiterate what SYVM is all about and how the Foundation has been preparing for it the past couple of weeks.

If you don’t know me already, my name is April Lifriu, and I’m the reigning Mrs. World and official spokesperson for FFB. In fact, I recently got into beauty pageants for the sole purpose of raising awareness about retinal diseases, which affect more than 10 million Americans alone, including members of my family, most importantly my two children. Like me, they have retinitis pigmentosa, or RP.

The Foundation has a 41-year history, and it’s raised close to half a billion dollars for the research that will eventually get treatments and cures to those who need it. But this is the first time we’ve established a Save Your Vision Month, which, as its web page shows, gives anyone interested many opportunities to spread the word about retinal diseases and research via the Internet, especially social media.

But there’s another element to it, which is why I recently paid visits to Walmart stores in Forth Worth, Texas, and Indianapolis, Indiana. As supporters of SYVM, Walmart associates have the opportunity to volunteer their time by walking on behalf of blindness research and public education, while promoting healthy vision in their communities.

During the last two weeks of September, I visited five stores in each city to thank those associates and to put a face on the Foundation, so to speak. First, I addressed associates in their store’s break room or Vision Center, and then I greeted customers in the store. Let me tell you, these folks rolled out the red carpet for me, with cake, smiles and friendly greetings. And they listened to my story and what I had to say about FFB and the challenges those with retinal diseases face.

In Fort Worth, one woman told me that she, too, has RP and that, by chance, her daughter had been diagnosed the day before. Through tears, she told me she was so thankful that she’s not alone and that FFB is doing what it can to find a cure.

Similar moments took place during the VisionWalks in both cities. VisionWalk is FFB’s signature 5K fundraiser. I happen to be chairing the one in my hometown of Tampa, Florida, later this month. They not only raise money; they enable those affected and their families and friends to console and support each other. In Forth Worth and Indianapolis I spoke to many mothers whose situations are similar to mine.

This video, shot during my visit to Forth Worth, gives you a sense of what my Walmart and VisionWalk experiences were like:

As I told those Walmart associates attending the Fort Worth VisionWalk, I’d been so exhausted from visiting their stores the day before, I literally fell asleep in my clothes and shoes the night before. But it was a good kind of exhaustion, the kind that comes from a day spent raising awareness and recognizing people also working to further the Foundation’s cause. Now, all of us have an entire month to do that.