When you drop a pair of well-used, no longer needed eyeglasses into one of the Lions’ collection baskets or boxes, dod you realize that each pair has a long journey ahead.  From that collection box it might go to Mexico, Uganda, the Philippines, Brazil, Egypt — eventually all over the world.  But first it has to be sorted locally (in Hampton, NH) and then in Virginia for further processing.  All the work is done by volunteers.

The Hampton Lions Club check and sort all the glasses received from District 44H Lions Clubs.  Further sorting is completed at a second local site, and after being counted and packaged, those glasses are on their way to Roanoke, VA.

In Roanoke, the Lions maintain one of several national recycling centers for used glasses.  When the glasses arrive there, each pair of glasses or sunglasses is once again inspected, then checked by machine for exact magnification and prescription, cleaned, and sorted by prescription.  There, they wait until a request comes in from a doctor who has been to clinics in the third world countries and who can match a pair of glasses through an exam to someone who has perhaps never before been able to see properly.  That pair of glasses is shipped out to that individual.  THERE ARE MORE REQUESTS AT ROANOKE THAN THERE ARE GLASSES TO FILL THEM.  Please remember our donation boxes and tell your friends when you have old pairs of glasses that no longer fit your needs.  They may get to change a life in a far-off place.