Dennis Fujimoto The Garden Island
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LIHUE — All of the Lions Club on the island of Kauai will be participating in the Hawaii District 50 Lions Club Used Eyeglass collection on Jan. 18.

Lions, garbed in their individual signature yellow vests, will be spread out throughout the island from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to greet donors and accept donations of eyeglasses for recycling.

“The donated eyeglasses will go to Third World countries where the network of doctors and technicians are all in place,” said Lion Helena Cooney of the East Kauai and Kapaa Lions Clubs. “This is an ongoing Lions Club worldwide project.”

Lions Club greeters will be set up from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at locations such as the Kong Lung Center in Kilauea, the Big Save in Kapaa, the Walmart in Lihue, Long’s Drugs, CVS at Kukui Grove Center, and the Big Save in the Eleele Shopping Center.

The Lions Club maintains the recycled, or used, eyeglass collection throughout the year through the placement of collection boxes at businesses such as optometrist offices and other places of business.

“This collection on Jan. 18 is an in-person collection that takes place just once a year,” Cooney said. “It usually takes place during January in coordination with the entire Hawaii District 50 Lions Club.”

The Hawaii Lions Foundation said children’s eyeglasses are especially needed. During the in-person collection, the Lions Foundation will also accept nonprescription glasses, sunglasses and hearing aids at the different locations.

“Old prescriptions may appear like they are no longer useful,” the Lions Foundation said on its website www.hawaiilions.org/eyeglass-recycling/. “However, to someone in need, recycled glasses can mean the chance to work and support a family, the opportunity to read a book or the newspaper, or the chance to see a child for the first time.”

The Lions Foundation said it costs just a few cents to recycle a pair of glasses, but for people in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Western Samoa, and for the East Kauai Lions Club, the Philippines, these glasses are priceless.

If the used eyeglasses are not sent directly to a specific country, the used eyewear is sent to a recycling center in Vallejo, California, where they are processed and distributed to areas in need.

For more information, email Cooney at Helenacooney808@gmail.com.