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Lions Eyeglasses
Recycling Facts..
 | The Lions Eyeglasses
Recycling Program was adopted as an official
service activity of Lions Clubs International in
October 1994. However, Lions have been recycling
eyeglasses for more than 70 years. The goal of
the program is to meet the demand for quality
eyeglasses in developing nations. Currently, it
costs less than US eight cents to provide
someone with recycled eyeglasses. |
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There are 12 official Lions Eyeglass
Recycling Centers in the world (six in the U.S.,
one each in Australia, Canada, France, Italy,
Republic of South Africa, and Spain). Lions
volunteer their time and services to prepare the
eyeglasses for distribution, cleaning and
categorizing each pair by prescription. Optical
missions sponsored by Lions clubs and other
groups distribute donated eye eyeglasses to
needy people. In addition, programs have been
established to train prisoners to prepare
donated eyeglasses. These individuals are
provided an opportunity to learn skills for use
when released and the satisfaction of knowing
they are helping others. |
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All types of eyeglasses and sunglasses,
prescription and non-prescription, are
acceptable. Exceptionally strong or weak
prescriptions are needed. Reading glasses
are very useful because many recipients are in
need of visual correction to help them perform
close-up tasks. Sunglasses are needed by
people living near the equator, especially those
with cataract, to shield their eyes from the
sun's damaging rays. |
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In fiscal year 2002-03, the Lions Eyeglass
Recycling Centers reported a collection of more
than 6.5 million pairs of eyeglasses,
distributing to nearly 3.5 million people in
developing nations. Recycled eyeglasses
are typically distributed outside of the United
States due to legal constraints concerning the
dispersal of prescriptive devices. |
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INTELLIGENCE
