Holly Springs teen collecting eye patches for kids with cataracts

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Holly Springs teen is giving back to his community, and he's asking for your help doing so.

Ethan Ames graduated from Middle Creek High School in June and plans to attend UNC-Charlotte in the fall.

The college-bound teen is not the boy he once. When he was a child, he was diagnosed with pediatric cataracts.

"I had to wear eye patches over my left eye to try and strengthen my right eye," Ames said.

For his senior project, prior to graduating, Ames wanted to help out not only Duke Eye Center, which helped his sight, but kids who have a similar diagnosis.

The eye patches they have to wear aren't cheap -- Ames said a pack of 50 costs around $20.

"I know when I was younger, I had a tendency to pull them off," Aimes said. "... when you take them off they're useless at that point."

"It was a financial burden for sure and something we've always thought about our whole lives," Ames' mother, Amy, said. "It was a stressful time."

So far, donations have poured in. Ames has collected 80 boxes but wants to collect more.

His family is accepting donations through an Amazon, which will then be delivered to the Duke's eye center.