Waukon Lions Club encourages area residents to donate used eyeglasses
Over 1250 pairs recently shared for global distribution from local donations
The World Health Organization estimates that 120 million people are visually impaired because of uncorrected refraction errors (far or near sightedness). Refractive errors can be easily diagnosed, measured, and corrected with eyeglasses. Yet, millions of people lack the access to these basic services.
Lions Clubs International has eight global causes it focuses on. Those causes are Childhood Cancer, Diabetes, Disaster Relief, Environment, Humanitarian, Hunger, Vision, and Youth. The oldest cause Lions Clubs support is dedicated to improving the lives of the visually impaired and preventing avoidable blindness. In 1925, Helen Keller called on the Lions to be “Knights of the Blind”. One of the programs to help improve impaired vision around the world is recycling used eyeglasses.
The Waukon Lions have been recycling used eyeglasses for decades. There are dedicated boxes around the area for depositing used glasses (see photo accompanying this article). Recently, the Waukon Lions Club turned in over 1250 used eyeglasses that the community has donated to the processing center in Decorah that is run by the Decorah Lions Club. Glasses have recently made the trip from Decorah to Tanzania and Belize. Future destinations for glasses are Peru, Guatemala, and Liberia. Many will experience corrected vision for the first time, enabling them to lead productive working lives, support their families, attend school, and advance their education.
The Waukon Lions Club encourages everyone to donate their used eyeglasses, reading glasses, and even non-prescription sunglasses into one of the 11 boxes located in the Waukon community. Boxes can be found at Hartig Drug, Gundersen Clinic, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Zion United Church of Christ, First Presbyterian Church, Iron Ridge Church, S&D Café, Jet’s Café, Freedom Bank, Waukon State Bank, and the Waukon Wellness Senior Center.
The Waukon Lions express their appreciation to the community for their support and generous donations to the used eyeglasses recycling program.
