By Ryan Sinfield, River Ridge High School intern
The Lions Club is an exciting opportunity to help those in need through multiple volunteering activities. Different activities include cleaning used glasses for people in need to picking and selling apples to raise money for different charities. These are just two of many volunteer activities. What’s even more exciting is that there is a Lions Club right here in Lacey.
The Lions Club is an international volunteer group that has over 46,000 clubs and 1.35 million members making it the world’s largest service club organization. One of Lacey’s Lions Club main focus is through Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center (LERC). Every Lions Club collects used eyeglasses. Lacey’s
LERC is one of about 13 in the world who actually receive the glasses and make sure they are suitable for those in need of them. I was told the entire process by Roberta Fender who works as a member of LERC.
The eyeglasses are collected at the clubs. Then, the glasses are sent to the one of the thirteen LERC centers where they are washed, sorted into their different boxes depending on the prescription. They then go to quality control for a double check. Lastly the eyeglasses are boxed according to prescription. When there are fifty in a box they are sent to inventory until requested by church mission. For example, at the moment at least 400 eyeglasses are being sent to a mission in Mexico to be distributed to those who need them, for free.
Anyone can volunteer for LERC. Most start out sorting or washing the eyeglasses. You can train as a Lens Techs, or someone who checks the prescription. I have volunteered for LERC myself and found it an enjoyable experience to help those in need of eyeglasses.
“You get a feeling of satisfaction when you’re doing something good for others,” said Roberta Fender, who has been a member for 3 years. The LERC in Lacey has been established for about ten years. 162,891 eyeglasses have been sent out to those who need them in the ten years in just the Lacey LERC alone. All the unusable eyeglasses are sent to a recycling center and the money made is used to keep LERC going.
Roberta Fender also talks about another activity the Lacey Lions Club is a part of, ”We also pick apples once a year and sell them, and give all the money to charities. Apples picked in Wenatchee are sent by the truck load to the Lions Club in lacey where they are boxed. Last year around 300 boxes of apples were sold by the Lions Club and the money earned is used to help others.”
Approximately $3,000 was raised last year for charity just by selling apples. The Lions Club has many opportunities for volunteers and you could be a part of many different activities.
The Lions Club main goal is to help people with eyesight, like with the vision screening done at elementary schools. Members go to local schools and test students to see if they might need any help. They do not treat them, but let the school know the student might have eyesight trouble.
The Lions Club has been around for about 96 years. People who are looking to volunteer or help people should definitely look to get involved in the Lions Club. You can visit the website for all the information needed for becoming a Lion.
