The Heritage Lions in Hoagland delivered over 5,000 pairs of eyeglasses, collected from over 60 locations in Allen County, to Kevin McDermit, President of the Arcola Lions Club. The Arcola Lions will hold an “eyeglass sort” on September 17 at their firehouse. All Lions and Friends are welcome to come and help. They will start at 7:00 p.m.
The used eyeglasses are sorted into bins for male/female, children, sunglasses, and reading glasses. Here is the journey of recycled eyeglasses in Lions Clubs all over the world:
1. Lions Clubs collect used eyeglasses at various community locations. They are brought to a local Lions Club for sorting.
2. The glasses are shipped to the nearest Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center where trained volunteers sort, clean and determine the prescription strengths of the glasses.
3. Volunteers at the recycling center carefully package the prepared glasses and store them until they are required for eyeglass-dispensing mission trips. Glasses that are not suitable for reuse are recycled for scrap, with the earnings benefiting local Lions projects.
4. At the mission site, eye care professionals and trained Lions volunteers perform vision screenings and dispense the appropriate recycled glasses, free of charge, to children and adults in need.
People in third world countries have very limited access to eyeglasses. The World Health Organization estimates that the eyesight of one-fourth of the world’s population can be improved through the use of corrective lenses. In developing countries, an eye exam costs as much as one month’s wages, and a single doctor may serve a community of hundreds of thousands of people. When they receive these glasses from the Lions, their lives are changed forever.
Please consider placing your unneeded eyeglasses, sunglasses, reading glasses and hearing aids/batteries in any of the hundreds of collection boxes located throughout northern Indiana, in libraries, funeral homes, nursing homes and optometrist offices. Help the Lions help the less fortunate to see clearly, perhaps for the first time in their lives.
The Heritage Lions motto is “We Serve” and we welcome and encourage everyone who wishes to help their local community and the world to contact a Heritage Lion or the Lions Club in your area. You can find contact information for all Lions Clubs at lionsclubinternational.org.
