A Visit to District M7’s ShowMe Lions Eyeglasses Recycling Program

There have been many questions since the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation (M.L.E.R.F.) spun off the eyeglass recycling program. Is the program still around? Where is it housed? Who is taking on this monumental project? The questions have been asked, the gauntlet thrown… and here are the answers to the readers’ burning questions!

Let’s begin with a simple answer: yes, the Lions’ Eyeglasses Recycling Program is still around, just “under new management.” Currently, this program is under the care of the Lions of District 26-M7 and housed in Jefferson City, Missouri between the warehouse located in the storage area of the West Point Senior Center and the processing center located at the Cole County Health Department.

Next, I’ll give a quick rundown of how the program works. Once Lions have eyeglasses to be sent in, they will need to contact someone with access to these facilities, namely the warehouse where the meeting to turn over the glasses happens. The Lions that I know of with the responsibility of meeting and accepting eyeglasses are PCC Jeff Hilke and PCC Jesse and PDG LouAnn Hathcock. After the glasses have been turned over, they are then sterilized, read and categorized (readers, prescription, etc.), then stored until they are handed out.

Jesse and LouAnn were gracious enough to be my chauffeurs and guide me through the process of eyeglass recycling. As you will see in the photos below, there is an abundance of glasses at this time. Their primary way of getting these glasses to those in need is through church mission trips from the Jefferson City area. Since Covid, these mission trips have been few and far between, if at all. So, if you know of a group needing glasses to hand out, call a Lion and get with Jessie and LouAnn, they can set you up!

Lastly, for clubs or Lions collecting glasses to send down to M7, take a look at the following for helpful hints that the rest of us can do to help our Lions in M7:

• Pre-sort collected glasses

  • Eliminate: loose lenses, plastic glasses with broken/missing parts, damaged lenses- excessive scratches, damaged coatings, etc.

  • Further sorting: Gold plated, sunglasses, prescription, readers, no visible frame markings, scrap metal (glasses with broken frames/missing parts), pediatric, new/demo frames

• Deliver the glasses and see the program

• Get involved in sorting, cleaning and classifying eyeglasses

• Find groups interested in helping with the program or conducting mission trips and get them in contact with M7

• Encourage other Lions to get involved!

I have a gallery of photos from the trip to the ShowMe Eyeglasses Recycling you can view by clicking the following link: ShowMe Eyeglasses Recycling

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