New Eyeglass Recycling Procedures Better Help Mission Groups

Thanks to the Missouri Lions, thousands of eyeglasses have been collected to be distributed worldwide by eye care professionals and volunteers on mission trips. For many individuals in third world countries, something a simple as a pair of these donated glasses helps them escape a world of debilitating poverty.

The Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation would to take our Eyeglass Recycling Program one step further by providing mission groups with exactly what they need, when they need them – and we could use your help!

Donate Life Missouri a Hit at Rock N' CholesteROLL

Hundreds of rock fans listened to some great music and learned more about organ and tissue donation at this year’s KHITS Rock N’ CholesteROLL event.

Thanks to a generous donation from Procter & Gamble and KHITS, Donate Life Missouri team members Heartland Lions Eye Banks and Mid-America Transplant Services were able to host a donor registry drive before showtime.

Throughout the evening, concert-goers were able to understand the importance of donation and win great prizes by playing Operation (while wearing corneal blindness glasses of course!). And many of them left the booth with registration forms in hand so they could join Illinois’ and Missouri’s first-person consent registry!

To see all the fun we had, please visit HLEB’s Facebook page.

Cornea Recipient Helps Others Facing Blindness

Since receiving the gift of sight from two generous donor families, Wilma S. of Decatur, Ill. has chosen to pay it forward to help other cornea recipients facing a lifetime of blindness.

By contributing financially to the Eye Bank's mission and spreading the word about the importance of donation, Wilma is playing a role in saving those in need from vision loss.

HLEB and the Kansas Lions Partner to Promote Donation

On September 1, 2010, Kansas launched its new first-person consent organ and tissue donor registry. To help promote this important milestone in donor awareness, Heartland Lions Eye Banks and the Kansas Lions partnered to spread the word at this year’s Kansas State Fair.

For eight days in September, fairgoers learned more about first-person consent, met transplant recipients whose lives were changed thanks to the gift of life, and signed up for the new registry right on the spot.

Friend us on Facebook! Our Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation and Heartland Lions Eye Banks pages are up now!

We're also on Twitter! Follow us at EyeBanks or MLERF to stay on top of all the latest developments at the Foundation.

The Kansas City branch of BCD Travel, an international corporate travel agency, recently donated $20,000 worth of cubicles to our new Donor Services Center. A special thanks goes to Rodney Plattner of BCD Travel for helping to facilitate the donation and to coordinate the arrangements!

National Donor Sabbath Month
November 13-15, 2010
If your house of worship would like materials to promote eye and organ donation, please contact us at 800-283-1982, ext. 115 or at info@mlerf.org.

Foundation Board of Directors Meeting
December 4, 2010, 9 a.m.
MLERF Library
404 Portland St.
Columbia, MO 65201

Foundation Board of Directors Meeting
April 2, 2011, 9 a.m.
MLERF Library
404 Portland St.
Columbia, MO 65201

Take a look at what we're doing in your community! Review the monthly program stats for your Lions district.

Top Giving Lions Clubs for 7/1/10 - 9/30/10

1.800.753.2265

Sightlines is a publication of the
Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation & Heartland Lions Eye Banks.
Questions and comments about this newsletter can be directed to info@mlerf.org