WE NEED YOUR HELP

Lions Club
Eyeglass Recycling

A Lions Partnership with Lions in Sight and Vista Center for the Blind & Visually Impaired

This is a volunteer event to help sort and clean donated used eyeglasses. Volunteer for part of the time, or work the entire event. Lunch will be provided. You do not need to sign up in advance for this event.

• Help sort, clean, and box eyeglasses for shipment.
• No heavy lifting required. 
• No previous experience required.
• Willingness to have fun while volunteering a plus!
• Suitable for most skill levels/abilities.
• Donations of clean towels and apple boxes also accepted.
  • Please, bring apple boxes only (for consistent size). Speak to the produce manager at your local grocery store to see if you can pick up their empty apple boxes.

• Date: Saturday, September 30, 2023
• Time: 9:00am-2:00pm
• Location: Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 101 N. Bascom Ave., San Jose.
  (Building is at the rear of the property).

Sign up at Signup Genius, or just show up on Saturday!

Background:

• Lions are in receipt of 100,000 or more used eyeglasses every couple of months through an anonymous corporate relationship
• The recycled prescription eyeglasses are distributed to the needy in Lions in Sight and Lions Clubs International sponsored international medical missions
• Vista Center has graciously provided a room at their San Jose location for storage, and use of their auditorium for sorting and cleaning the donated eyeglasses

The Lions of District 4-C6 wish to thank the approximately 120 volunteers who attended our July 29th sorting event. 64 boxes with approximately 500 eyeglasses in each box were sorted.

• 30 boxes of glasses have been sorted, washed, and dried. They are now ready for lensometer reading of lens strength. Lensometer Training and Use events take place almost every Tuesday between 11am and 3pm.
• 34 boxes of damaged eyeglasses and eyeglass parts are ready for recycling by Lions in Sight.

Additionally, 5 boxes of empty eyeglass cases were set aside and are headed to local schools who have requested them.

Do you have a pair of old but usable eyeglasses to donate? We collect used eyeglasses for reuse by those in need. In our area, you can drop off your gently used (not broken or scratched) eyeglasses at the following locations:

• Family EyeCare Center, 338 E. Hamilton Ave. @ Central Ave., Campbell. Map/directions.
• Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 101 N. Bascom Ave., San Jose (Dropbox located outside lobby door.) Map/directions.

Volunteers needed to help measure used eyeglass lens strength

Lensometer training & use continues on Tuesdays, from 9:00am-11am, and 11:00am-1pm. Six volunteers are needed per shift. Sign up for a shift on Signup Genius.

About lensometer trainings

A lensometer is used to measure the strength of each lens in a donated pair of glasses, so that we can label and sort the used eyeglasses to be given to someone in need. We have many thousands of pairs of glasses to be tested and labeled.

Help sort donated eyeglasses

Additional volunteers can help sort and clean donated eyeglasses (the steps that occur before measuring the prescription with a lensometer). We sort donated eyeglasses to pick out the pairs that are not scratched or broken and can be reused as is. Sign up for a shift on Signup Genius.

On the second Wednesday of the month we volunteer at Martha’s Kitchen, packing meals into take out boxes to be given to needy individuals. This takes place from 2:40-5:00pm. Contact us to join us for an afternoon of volunteer service. No cooking or heavy lifting is required.

• Volunteers must bring proof of Covid vaccination
• Masks are required
• Closed-toe shoes only.

Martha’s Kitchen in San Jose is a nonprofit soup kitchen that currently provides nearly 100,000 meals and 250,000 pounds of groceries each month to those in need.