The Perry Lions Club has launched it annual eyeglasses collection. The Lions ask the public to donate glasses that are no longer used to the eyeglass recycling program. The recycled glasses will be donated to needy people in third world countries and the U.S.
The glasses collected by the Perry club will be taken to the Lions state office in Ames and added to the glasses collected by other clubs across the state. From there the glasses will be shipped to a recycling center in Westville, Indiana, where the glasses will be sorted and labeled by inmates in the Westville Correction Center. The inmates prepare and ship about 400,000 pairs of glasses each year.
Last year the Perry community donated more than 100 pairs of glasses to this project. The recipients of the glasses are not charged. The project is funded by the Lions Club International Foundation.
There will be eyeglasses collection boxes at the Eye Care Associates, Hy-Vee, Medicap Pharmacy, Fareway and the Hotel Pattee, with other possible locations to come soon. Lions Club members David Summerson and Mike Wilson are in charge of this project. Contact them or any Perry Lions Club member for more information.
Dr. Trisha Smith, an optometrist at Perry Eye Care Associates and a member of the Perry Lions Club, is also helping with the collection program. Eye Care Associates have been partners with the Perry Lions Club for many years in assisting with other Lions Club vision programs.
The Lions are also collecting old hearing aids that are no longer needed and can be placed in the same eyeglass collection box. These hearing aids are refurbished and distributed at no cost to recipients in need of hearing aids.
