LIHU‘E — Eyeglasses often get misplaced during people’s efforts to cope with natural disasters, East Kaua‘i Lion Joann Steinfort said.

The East Kaua‘i Lions Club was on hand to help celebrate the National White Cane Awareness Day Saturday at Kukui Grove Center along with members of the Kaua‘i Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, the state’s Vocational Rehabilitation program and the county’s Agency on Elderly Affairs.

But as the death tolls from natural disasters continues to rise along the so-called Ring of Fire, Steinfort could not help but discuss how eyeglasses tucked away in people’s homes are needed by victims.

“We would like to encourage people to go through their drawers and other places where they store things to see if there are discarded eyeglasses, or glasses that people have outgrown,” Steinfort said. “These can be brought to collection boxes located around the island.”

Steinfort said in the Lihu‘e area, boxes are located at the Longs Drug Stores at Kukui Grove, the eyeglasses department at Costco and Big Save. Another option is to contact any of the Lions Clubs around the island.

The discarded glasses are cleaned and sent to O‘ahu where a team of optical doctors use special equipment to read and mark the prescriptions on each pair. These are then sent to areas where they can be matched up to people who need them.

Art Umezu, the coordinator for several promotions, was on hand to greet shoppers at the Kukui Grove Center’s exhibition area fronting the Deja Vu store where he assembled a collection of local entertainers for a concert to help flood victims in the Philippines.

Working against the clock, Umezu got help from the Kaua‘i Filipino Community Council and the Kaua‘i Filipino Chamber of Commerce in putting together a collection for the Philippines.

The area was recently affected by flooding from the passage of a tropical typhoon and there is a threat of several more.

Daphne Sanchez, a Kapa‘a High School graduate, used her headliner status Friday night at The Jam Room to do an advance solicitation for the relief fund. Several of the impromptu performers from that gig returned Saturday for an encore performance in the exhibition area.

Umezu said he never forgot the outpouring of help that poured into Kaua‘i following Hurricane Iniki in 1992, and Kaua‘i’s people also remember what it was like. The Saturday events were geared to allow Kaua‘i an opportunity to help others in the same way.

• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.