Never Out Of Fashion––

Eyeglasses For Developing Nations

By Dottie Evans

For more than 20 years, the Newtown Lions Club has been collecting thousands of pairs of used eyeglasses for donation to the World Health Organization for distribution to needy individuals in Africa and other Third World countries.

The glasses are rounded up from various drop-off points around town, and handed over to local optometrists and eye care specialists who, in turn, send them to one of 11 distribution centers throughout the world.

 Newtown’s donated eyeglasses are routed to the Boston center, where they are cleaned, and their prescriptions are noted, so pertinent information will be available when the glasses are taken to remote African villages. Since most of these far-flung destinations do not have an eye doctor in residence, the information is of the utmost importance to volunteers bringing the glasses to needy individuals.

“After all, many of these health care workers have been bushwhacking through the jungle just to get there,” said Dr. Joseph Young of Village Eye Care, in the Newtown Shopping Village, off Queen Street.

“They’re not able to bring along an examination chair, and there won’t likely be any sophisticated testing instruments handy when they get there,” he added.

Woman’s Club Helps Collect Eyeglasses

Another local organization, the Newtown Woman’s Club (GFWC), Inc, has been working alongside the Lions in collecting the donated eyeglasses.

One longtime club member, Jean Fadus, recently delivered a large number to Dr Young’s office.

Glasses of every size, color, shape, and thickness were heaped in shopping bags, boxes, and even a laundry basket. Many were from previous fashion eras, including wire-rimmed, the pointy-tipped with rhinestones, or thick black rims.

“We can always take the lenses out and put them in other frames,” said Dr Young, adding that no frame fashion was too extreme for the lenses themselves to be of use.

“You’d be surprised how many we get from the various drop-off points,” Mrs Fadus said.

 “People start looking in their old drawers, and they find glasses they had forgotten they had. If a family member has passed away, sometimes the family doesn’t know what to do with the old glasses. They can always donate them. We are grateful for any and all,” she added.

Mrs Fadus explained how she became the club contact person for eyeglass collection.

“As chairman of Home Life in 2000, I was responsible for initiating our club’s participation in the state project Connecticut Radio Information System [CRIS]. CRIS involved volunteers reading the Newtown Bee articles weekly to patients with visual impairments.

“So I got the idea of setting up a collection basket in a little corner on the cabinet in the exercise room at the Marcus Cardiac Rehabilitation room at Danbury Hospital. So far, about 3,000 pairs have been donated to the Lions Club,” she added.

When the Newtown contributions are combined to the total number of glasses collected by the 5,000 Lions Clubs throughout the United States, that is quite a staggering number of glasses made available to those who otherwise would never experience the joy of seeing clearly.

As Dr Young accepted Mrs Fadus’ most recent delivery he told of a story he’d heard concerning the distribution of the eyeglasses in Africa.

 “A man who had never been able to see his children or his grandchildren was given eyeglasses and a whole new world opened up. Imagine how wonderful that would be,” Dr Young said.

The World Health Organization estimates that nearly one-fourth of the world’s population needs some form of visual correction. Unfortunately for many of these people, an eye exam is not an option. It may be unaffordable or even unavailable, given the remote areas that need to be helped.

The familiar blue, gold and white Lions’ eyeglass deposit boxes may be found throughout town, at the Cyrenius Booth Library, in the Congregational Church Thrift Shop, and at the Leo Club at Newtown High School. Donations of used or outdated eyeglasses are always welcome.