Sightlines - How Your Financial Gift Changes Lives

How Your Financial Gift Changes Lives

The numbers are in! Thanks to the support of generous financial donors like you, the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation and Heartland Lions Eye Banks helped more people than ever before this past fiscal year!

Financial donations We screened 38,475 preschoolers through our Children’s Vision Screening program, screened 8,385 seniors for glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, and provided eye care assistance to 146 individuals.

In addition, the Eye Bank gave the gift of sight to 2,905 cornea transplant recipients, including Connie – the fourth person in her family to lose her vision to Fuchs’ dystrophy. Because of you and her generous donor family, Connie’s vision has been restored and she has regained her freedom.

Please join us in saving sight this year by making a donation to the Foundation’s programs. Your generous gift will touch the lives of those here in Missouri, the Midwest and around the world.

It's Children's Eye Health and Safety Month!

Children's Eye Health and Safety Month According to Prevent Blindness America, 12.1 million school kids, or 1 in 4 children, experience vision problems, and 1 in 20 are at risk of losing their eyesight permanently.

The Foundation is dedicated to helping these kids start the school year off with better vision. During Children's Eye Health and Safety Month this August, we're honored to provide free Children's Vision Screenings at back-to-school events and health fairs throughout the month. Learn how to protect your child's eyesight this year and find a free screening in your community.

One-Time Grant Helps Provide Eye Care Assistance

Eye Care Assistance Hundreds of Missourians suffer from vision problems simply because they can’t afford the costs of treatment or surgery. And in some cases, even a basic eye exam is out of reach for these individuals.

Through our Eye Care Assistance program, the Foundation provides support to those who qualify. This July, we received an extra helping hand in our mission through a one-time grant from the United Way of Greater St. Louis. This $2,500 grant will allow us to serve more people in need in St. Charles, Warren and Lincoln counties. We thank the United Way for its continued support of organizations in Eastern Missouri.

Learn more about our Eye Care Assistance program and applicant guidelines.

Saint Louis Science Center Screening a Huge Success!

Children's Vision Screening Once again, the Foundation’s free Back-to-School Vision Screening event at the Saint Louis Science Center screened hundreds of visitors for the leading causes of blindness.

Thanks to the support of Lions volunteers and the work of our vision screening staff, we screened 229 children for amblyopia and other eye disorders and screened 214 adults for glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration from July 8th through 9th.

A big thank you goes to the following Lions for helping us before and during the screenings.

KOMU in Columbia, Mo. interviewed vision screening specialist Jennifer Gallihugh on our "Enfoque en La Glaucoma" program and the risk of glaucoma in the Hispanic community.

On August 1st, the station also made a stop at the Donate Life Missouri Donors Rock Ride to interview kidney transplant recipient David Landsberg who is biking 50 miles in 50 states in 50 days to promote organ donation.

Donors Rock Ride
August 7, 2011, 7 a.m.
Louisburg Cider Mill
14730 K68 Highway
Louisburg, KS 66053
Kidney transplant recipient David Landsberg is riding 50 miles in 50 states in 50 days to promote donation awareness. Join him on the Kansas leg of his journey!

D Day 2011
August 19, 2011, 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Phelps County Regional Medical Center
1000 W. 10th St.
Rolla, MO 65401
Join the Eye Bank, Mid-America Transplant Services and the PCRMC Donor Council for this special event honoring donor families.

MLERF Board Meeting
September 10, 2011, 9 a.m.
The September board meeting will be held via conference call. If you are a non-board member and wish to participate in the call, please contact the PR department at info@mlerf.org or at 800-283-1982.

Heartland Lions Eye Banks at the Kansas State Fair
September 9-18, 2011
Kansas State Fairgrounds
Pride of Kansas Building
2000 N. Poplar St.
Hutchinson, KS 67502
Learn about Kansas' new first-person donor registry and meet individuals whose lives have been changed through the miracle of donation.

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 7/1/11 - 7/31/11

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