Middletown Lions Club Seeks Donations For Children's Vision Screenings

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The Middletown Lions Club Charitable Foundation has conducted close to 70,000 free eye screenings for children in local school districts.

For years now, the "Knights of Sight" have done eye screenings in school districts including Middletown, Hazlet, Union Beach, Keansburg, Holmdel, Red Bank, Little Silver, Matawan-Aberdeen, Shrewsbury, Rumson, Fair Haven, Monmouth Beach and Manasquan.

The screenings detect all types of vision problems, and any child with an issue is referred to an ophthalmologist. If a child cannot afford an eye examination or glasses, the club funds the need through partnerships with physicians and providers. The team works in conjunction with school nurses, who follow up with parents if there are vision issues.

In Middletown alone in 2022, the vision screening team tested 443 children. Thirty-two children were referred for further evaluation. One child, it was discovered, literally had no vision in the right eye. Nobody realized the child was in trouble until the vision screening uncovered the problem. Fortunately, the child was referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist.

The Middletown Lions are now launching a fundraising campaign that asks the community for assistance with the costs of providing these free eye screenings. The club needs to purchase special eye screening cameras as the older models are obsolete and will not function due to unavailability of parts.

Levels of giving include Visionary at $1,000; Luminary at $750; Leader at $500; Advocate at$250 & Supporter at $100. Donations of any amount are appreciated. If you want to donate, you can do so here: https://gofund.me/82d12c45

Donation checks should be made payable to the Middletown Lions Club Foundation, a 501C3 organization, registration #27-4749664,and sent to P.O. Box 75, Middletown, N.J. 07748 with a memo indicating ‘Through The Len Of Lionism - A Future In Focus’ Campaign

For more information, contact Lion President Beverly Bova Scarano at (908) 896-1682. The website for the Middletown Lions Club is https://www.mlions.org

The Middletown Lions Club, chartered in 1946, supports many causes in the community, including to help combat food insecurity, eyesight preservation, hearing loss and improvement, the environment and youth education.