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Local Lions Set Sights On Battling Blindness
Hundreds Participated in April 21 "Walk for Sight"
As part of a world-wide effort to combat preventable blindness, New York Lions held simultaneous community walks across the state to raise awareness and funding for its world sight projects. Campaign SightFirst II is a Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) fundraising initiative aiming to raise $150 million over three years.
Sadly, by the time you finish reading this, one child will have gone blind. If nothing is done, the experts say that the world's blind population will double from 37 million to 74 million. To address this alarming trend, LCIF is rallying all 1.3 million Lions in 45,000 clubs in 200 countries. To date, Lions clubs have raised more than $80 million.
According to the World Health Organization, 8 out of 10 cases of blindness can be prevented or reversed if caught on time. "Everyone knows someone whose life has been affected by blindness, whether it's a colleague, parent, spouse, neighbor or child. With so many people facing glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and macular degeneration in our community, we should all feel responsible to participate in this event," says Lion Maybell Towie, a past district governor.
Over 16 years, Lions have given $202 million in grant funding for sight-related projects such as cataract surgeries, constructing or expanding eye hospitals and clinics, vision testing in preschool and elementary schools, distributing sight-saving medication to prevent river blindness and training eye care professionals.
Who: New York Lions clubs across the state will hold simultaneous community walks on April 21st.
What: Lions members and the general public participate in an eight-mile walk. Individuals of all ages can make a difference in this battle. This is the second LCIF international campaign to fight blindness. Lions' SightFirst program has awarded $202 million for 841 projects in 90 countries over a 16-year period to build hospitals, clinics, train eye care professionals and distribute sight saving medication.
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