LIONS SEE, INC.
PDG William Fitzgerald-President
Joseph Decker -Assistant Treasurer and Ulster/Greene County Coordinator
Larysa Dyrszka-Sullivan County Coordinator
PDG Clifford W. Youngs-Orange County Coordinator
PDG Ed Blodgett- Dutchess/Columbia County Coordinator
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Barbara Bedell: Lions keep their focus on sight during Eye Donor Month March 02, 2010
After exclaiming he could see, young David Calvillo, 4, posed with his dad, Nicholas, Glenice Goglia, left, of the Middletown Lions, and Dora Castrillon, a teaching assistant.
The Middletown Lions, established almost 74 years ago, has been involved with sight programs from the beginning. As March is Eye Donor Month, recognized for the 47th consecutive year by the state of New York, the members, like Lions everywhere, are focused on sight.
Lions are involved in many programs, from seeking eye donor pledges for transplants so others can see to providing examinations and eyeglasses for preschoolers.
As a Middletown Lion, Glenice Foglia is the secretary and coordinator of a program called "See" that she describes as "dear to her heart." In the years since the program has been in operation, club volunteers have screened the eyes of 428 preschoolers in Middletown.
Recently when 4-year-old David Calvillo said, "I see," after his new eyeglasses were put in place, Foglia's heart danced. "What a beautiful experience for me," she said. It was beyond beautiful for David and his family.
David attends the Head Start program at Middletown's Agri-Business Child Development (ABCD) at 47 Academy Ave. It was through a routine eye screening that the Lions offer, with digital reading by the Ira G. Ross Eye Institute in Buffalo, that problems were detected.
It took months for David's parents to find eye professionals who would accept their health insurance to prescribe glasses because of David's severe astigmatism.
"In the end," according to Foglia, "the Middletown Lions worked with local eye doctors to provide David with his glasses."
Still, there are hundreds of preschoolers to be screened, and there will be other children who will need further examinations and glasses. The Lions are focused year-round and conduct fundraisers, such as pancake breakfasts, to help with the costs.
They welcome donations year round, just as they do eye pledges. Through a pledge, when a person's life fades into eternity, their eyes can be used to make four people see. For information, call 344-8104 or visit www.middletownlionsclub.org.
Lions Vision Screening: Cross's Vision
See how a Lions Preschool Vision Screening opened up an amazing new world for three-year-old Cross. And saved him from a lifetime of vision loss.
Forms available at Lions SEE, INC.