Family to Family: The Charles F. Snyder Funeral Blog
Seeing the World with New Eyes
Posted on October 5, 2016 by Anne Corvelle
When my oldest daughter first needed glasses when she was 18 months old, one of the first thoughts that came to mind was, “How on earth am I going to get her to keep these things on her face?” One week later, her child-friendly, plastic purple glasses were ready and we brought them home. When we helped her put them on, she looked around and declared, “I see! I see!” Soon after she would show anyone who would pay attention what she called her “new eyes.”
At the Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory, we want to help the less fortunate with tools to help them better see the world around them. We have partnered with Lions Clubs International Eyeglass Recycling Program to collect used eyeglasses for distribution around the world. The used eyeglasses collected at our four locations, our current count is 102, are gathered and distributed among the Manheim Township, Lititz and Willow Street Lions Clubs. One of our support staff members, Bill Grager, is tasked with coordinating the collection for us and has been kind enough to provide me with this background information. Thanks, Bill G.!
Upon receiving a group’s donation, the Lions then package and ship the eyeglasses to the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center (LERC). There are 18 LERCs internationally, 11 of which are in the United States, and the recycling center we use is at the Katzenbach School for the Deaf in West Trenton, New Jersey. This particular location processes 1.2 million of the approximately 7 million pairs of glasses that are donated annually to the Lions Club. LERCs process the donated eyeglasses by cleaning, neutralizing, and designating prescriptions for distribution.
At the 1925 Lions International Convention, Helen Keller challenged the Lions to become knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness. The Lions accepted this challenge and sponsor initiatives to combat preventable blindness. As a result of this campaign, people in 20 different countries around the world reap the benefits, thus enabling the poorest of the poor around the world to experience improved vision for themselves…to have their own “new eyes.”
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