Sanger Lions Club collecting used eyeglasses for Vision Awarness Month
The Sanger Lions Club celebrates October as Vision Awareness Month. In 1925, as an ambassador for the newly formed American Foundation for the Blind, Helen Keller addressed the Lions Clubs International Convention in Cedar Point, Ohio. Before the convention was over, the association unreservedly dedicated itself to making Keller’s dream a reality. Lions would become Keller’s Knights of the Blind.
Since 1925, hundreds of millions of lives have been changed through the vision-related work of Lions around the world, and today the association is as dedicated as ever to hastening the day when no one should suffer unnecessarily from vision problems. Through eye centers and hospitals, medicines and surgeries, eyeglasses and eye banks, Lions are working to end preventable blindness and aid the visually impaired. Keller’s challenge and her dream live on.
As fall cleaning gets under way, the Sanger Lions are asking people to look through dresser drawers and closets for used eyeglasses and donate them to the Lions Recycle For Sight program.
During the month of October, the Sanger Lions Club will be collecting used reading glasses, prescription eyeglasses and prescription and non-prescription sunglasses as part of a unique recycling program. The collected glasses will be cleaned and prepared for distribution in developing countries where eye care is often unaffordable and inaccessible.
“We need everyone to donate their used eyeglasses,” said Brad Allison Club President. “In most developing countries, an eye exam can cost as much as one month’s wages and a single eye doctor may serve a community of hundreds of thousands of people.”
The donated glasses will be shipped to a regional Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center where they will be cleaned, categorized by prescription, and prepared for distribution by Lions and other groups. The Sanger Lions Club has collected a little over 250 pairs of glasses so far this year. The North Texas Regional District 2-E2 recycled 64,000 pairs of eyeglasses last year.
To donate used glasses (including sunglasses and reading glasses), place them in the specially marked Lions Recycle For Sight collection boxes located at SANGER BANK, S & J PHARMACY, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, EDWARD JONES, PROSPERITY BANK, CRISIS CENTER, STATE FARM, SANGER EYE CENTER, SANGER EDUCATION FOUNDATION. These are permanent collection sites and they accept glasses year-round). (One Day Only at the Sanger Clean-up Day Railroad Baseball Field October 8th 8-11AM), (One Day only Sanger Sellabration October 29, 8:00AM to 5:00PM Lions Club Booth)(October Only – All Sanger ISD School’s Drop off in Nurses Office)
Sanger ISD has partnered up with the Sanger Lions Club to help with eye screening in the schools. The screening started at Butterfield Elementary School this week. Screenings will start back up the week of October 17th-21st and could go on until the Thanksgiving holiday. According to Laura McFerren RN, Coordinator of the Health Services for Sanger ISD the district does eye screening for PK, K,1,3,5, and 7th grades. Due to COVID-19 eye screenings have not been done in the past few years. McFerren said, the goal is to get all those students screened once the regular schedule is caught up.
If you or anyone you know needs assistance with vision, please contact the Sanger Lions Club.
The Sanger Lions Club meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at Noon to 1:00pm at the Sanger Community Center. Lions clubs are a group of men and women and families who identify needs within the community and work together to fulfill those needs. For more information or to get involved with the Sanger Lions Club, please contact Brad Allison at (210) 825-9275 by email: sangertxlionsclub@gmail.com; https://e-clubhouse.org/sites/sanger/index.php .
Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with more than 1.3 million members in approximately 45,000 clubs in 205 countries and geographical areas around the world. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world. For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit the Web site at www.lionsclubs.org.