Drop Off Glasses To Help The Needy

Lions clubs across Oahu will accept used eyeglasses from the public in a collection drive from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at selected sites, including West Oahu’s three Walmart stores — Waipahu, Pearl City and Kapolei.

The drive is part of Hawaii Lions’ year-round initiative, “Lions in Sight,” where clubs clean, sort, ship and distribute donated glasses to countries where good vision care is inaccessible or unaffordable. According to Hawaii Lions’ spokesman Irwin Santos, an eye examination can cost as much as one month’s wages, and a single qualified eye doctor might be the only one serving a community of hundreds of thousands of people.

The most recent Hawaii effort sent 5,000 pairs of spectacles to villagers in mountainous regions of Afghanistan. The World Health Organization estimates that about one-fourth of the world’s population could benefit from corrective lenses — especially children.

Hearing aids also are welcome. They will be cleaned and then tested for local distribution.

For more information, call Santos at (213) 283-6107 or visit hawaiilions.org.