Below is the end-of-year (July 2018- June 2019) report from the Fairfax Lions Club’s Eyeglass Recycling committee.  These volunteers work at least twice every month at the Northern VA Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center, and collect donated eyeglasses from various points in the Fairfax area.

    Please note:  10,229 pair of used eyeglasses were collected and delivered to the Recycling Center – the most ever in one year!  The Recycling Center has over the past 21 years delivered over 3.5 million pair of eyeglasses to persons in need around the world – WE SERVE!

Several Fairfax Lions serve twice each month at the EGRC.  Their work includes collecting and taking to the center donated eyeglasses (can be several hundred pair of eyeglasses each trip) and “processing” eyeglasses for a few hours. Processing means running a pair of cleaned/serviceable eyeglasses through a machine that defines the corrective prescription, labeling a bag with the prescription, and bagging the glasses. Donated hearing aides are also taken to the center.  A summary of this service so far in this Lions year, by the team from Fairfax Lions Club:

• Delivered 4759 pair of donated eyeglasses
• Delivered 7 donated hearing aids
• Worked 127 hours processing eyeglasses

The results generated by ALL Lions Clubs in our District 24-A are very impressive, in terms of the numbers of donated eyeglasses recycled and delivered to persons in need:

• USABLE EYEGLASSES collected across all Northen VA (Lions DISTRICT 24-A):   82,299 pairs collected

• Requests for EYEGLASSES filled (delivered to persons in need)

10-4-17                Guatemala                         1800

10-4-17                Guatemala                         1200

10-10-17              Uganda                               1600

10-11-17              Haiti                                     600

10-12-17              Panama                              1200

10-13-17              Guatemala                         1000

10-15-17              Panama                              1200

10-20-17              Dominican Republic         1200

11-9-17                Haiti                                     300

11-9-17                Nigeria                                1500

11-9-17                Nigeria                                2450

11–13-17            India                                    1400

11-13-17              Ghana                                 1400

11-13-17              Guatemala                         1000

11-27-17              Ghana                                 6600

11-29-17              Haiti                                     600

11-30-17              India                                    1450

11-30-17              Guatemala                         1050

12-5-17                Ghana                                 1800

12-8-17                Ghana                                 6600

12-15-17              Ghana                                 1800

12-15-17              Guatemala                         1600

TOTAL : 39,350 pairs processed and delivered

WE SERVE!

Fairfax Lions collect used eyeglasses and recycle them so they can be given by medical mission teams to people in need around the world.

Across the US, regional Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centers clean, repair, and classify donated glasses. The eyeglasses are then distributed free-of-charge to needy individuals around the world.

It doesn’t take much effort to drop off that old pair of spectacles at your local business or Lions Club. Even if you don’t wear eyeglasses, please encourage others to donate their old eyeglasses. This small gesture can make a world of difference.

Through the generosity of the following businesses and agencies, the Fairfax Lions Club maintains eyeglass collection boxes. Please bring your used eyeglasses to one of these locations and help us in this very worthy project.

You can find a collection box at these locations…

Our Club collects eyeglasses donated by members of our community; we help process those eyeglass at the Northern VA Lions Eyeglasses Recycling Center, and the fruits of that work – recycled eyeglasses – are distributed to help needy persons around the world see better.

Twice monthly, several members of our Club take donated eyeglasses to, and work a few hours at, the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center.  In Arlington, the center is  in a Virginia Hospital Center building.  Lions have their own entrance to the building.

In the recycling center, the first  step is washing and inspecting the eyeglasses.  The clean and serviceable eyeglasses are stored in “Washed” bins until volunteers can “process” them.

Teams from several local area Clubs process the eyeglasses using sophisticated machines in the Center that read the correction of each lens.  The volunteers mark that correction factor on the plastic bag they put the eyeglass into.  The product of this volunteer effort are eyeglasses that have been through the complete process, packaged and then shipped around the world to help others.

Lions Read Eyeglass Lens Correction

So, what are the measures of Fairfax Lions Club’s service at the recycling center?  We track the number of Lions, and the hours they work at the Center each month, and the number of donated eyeglasses and hearing aids we collect and deliver to the center.

Service Delivered by Fairfax Lions to NoVA Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center

Volunteers         Hours        Glasses          Hearing Aids

(For 12 months, Lions year 2017-2018)

90              193         7415                18

(And so far this year July-August, 2018)

11               22          2217                  0

Fairfax Lions collect eyeglasses donated by area residents, and provide them to people in need. There are collection boxes at numerous locations; see list at: http://www.fairfaxlions.org/?s=eyeglass+recycling

September, 2017, was a bountiful month; we collected 921 pairs of eyeglasses (and 4 hearing aids – which we also recycle for persons in need). We thank everyone their donations!

Lions clean, inspect, categorize, and package the donated glasses at the LIONS EYEGLASS RECYCLING CENTER OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA in Arlington, VA http://www.valions.org/egrc/index.html. This volunteer service is especially rewarding when you consider the number of people who can see better after receiving a pair of recycled eyeglasses.  WE SERVE!

SOLD OUT!!!!

Our December fruit sale was a big successs – we sold all the fresh grapefruit and oranges by noon Saturday, Dec 20.  We also sold all (but one) Vermont maple syrup, and most of the Virginia peanuts.

As you may know, our 3 annual fruit sales are our primary fund raising activities.  They enable the Fairfax Lions to conduct our many charity and service programs helping those in need in our local area.  (For information on those programs, please see that portion of this web site.)

So, a BIG thank you to all our friends and neighbors in Virginia, Maryland, and DC who were customers at the December fruit sale.

Also, thank you for bringing us your old eyeglasses.  We take used eyeglasses to the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center of Northern Virginia http://www.valions.org/EGRC/ where they are cleaned, inspected and sorted by prescription.  The majority of the glasses are then sent overseas with eye care professionals and fit to individuals in need of eye glasses.  Some glasses go to depressed areas of the US where, with the assistance of trained medical personnel, they are distributed to needy citizens.

Our next fruit sale will be on March 12-14, 2015, same location (parking lot by Home Depot just south of Fairfax Circle on Old Lee Highway).  We look forward to fresh Valencia oranges along with great grapefuit fresh from Florida!

Sign up for your discount coupon on this page, at http://www.fairfaxlions.org/citrus-sale-notification/