Westborough and District 33A Lions Coordinate Eyeglass Donation

Each year, Daniel and Hannah Stanton of Nashua, NH, formerly of Grafton, MA, travel to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in S. Dakota, one of the country's poorest, to support the Native Americans. After attending this year's MA Lions State Youth Speech Contest in Mansfield in May to watch Westborough High School's Megan Ku compete for the state tile, the Stanton's learned of the Massachusetts Lions Eyeglass Recycling Program. Local Lions Clubs place eyeglass collection boxes throughout the state in stores, libraries, and community centers to give new life to glasses that would otherwise be discarded, and to give sight to those who would otherwise have imparied vision.

While planning for their annual trip to the reservation, the Stantons contacted Megan to see if she could help coordinate a donation of eyeglasses through the Westborough Lions Club. Megan contacted the club, who arranged with Grafton Lion and Region 1 Chairperson, John Riemer, and District 33A Eyeglass Recycling Coordinator, Don Fortin, to have 20 boxes of sorted eyeglasses sent to the Pine Ridge Reservation with the Stantons at the end of June. The glasses were given to the Kyle Health Center at the Reservation, where they will be disseminated to the Oglala Lakota Native Americans. In the photo, Don Fortin is shown unloading the glasses for transport to S. Dakota.

If you would like to donate your unused eyeglasses, including sunglasses to the Lions Club, collection boxes can be found at the Westborough Library, Roche Bros. Supermarket, the Westborough Senior Center, Westborough Eye Care, and the Westborough Spectacle Shoppe. To learn more about the Westborough Lions Club, please visit westboroughlionsclub.org.