Lincolnton- While you were making preparation to decorate your home for the Christmas and Hanukkah season, did you find in your dresser drawer, attic, or garage a pair (s) of unwanted  eyeglasses?  But don’t know what to do with them? Why not donate, deposit, and recycle them in one of the LIONS RECYCLE FOR SIGHT boxes strategically at various businesses throughout Cherryville, Denver, and Lincolnton by the Lincolnton Lions Club?

• Did you realize your unwanted pair(s) of eyeglasses can make a drastic change in another person’s life? Imagine if you could help a child read. An adult succeed in his job. A senior citizen maintain their independence. Every day, your recyclable eyeglasses can do all of this and more. Unfortunately,  state and federal public health laws prevent recyclable eyeglasses to be used in the USA. That’s why they are distributed to people in developing countries throughout the world

• What type of eye wear does the Lions Club accept? New, used, prescription children and adult eyeglasses, safety glasses and  prescription and non-prescription sunglasses. Broken or incomplete glasses are not  accepted.  Concerns about possible eye infections prevents contact lens can not be  recycled.

• What happens after your have donated, deposited, and recycled eyeglasses in a LIONS RECYCLE FOR SIGHT BOX? Upon receipt of your unwanted eyeglasses , Lions count, sort by type/style,  and transports them to  NC Lions, headquarters  at  Camp Dogwood in Sherrills Ford. Your glasses will be  shipped to one of 18 Lions Eyeglasses Recycling Centers to cleaned, sort by prescription strengthen, and packaged for overseas distribution. Remember there is great demand for prescription and non-prescription sunglasses by developing countries close to the Equator.

• What Cherryville, Denver and Lincolnton businesses  either have LIONS RECYCLE FOR SIGHT boxes strategically placed  for people to donate, deposit or agreed to collect recyclable eyeglasses for the Lincolnton Lions Club?

Optometrist, Ophthalmologist, and Vision Care Centers: 1) Advanced Family Eye Care- 7547 Waterside Loop Road, Suite A ( Denver); 2) Carolina Eye Care – 231 North General’s Blvd. (Lincolnton) and 623 North Highway 16 (Denver); 3) Cherryville Eye Care 201 West Church Street (Cherryville); 4) Lincoln Eye Center – 110 Doctor’s Park ( Lincolnton); 5) Graystone Ophthalmology Associates-  2311 East Main Street (Lincolnton); and 6) Wal-Mart Vision Center- 306 North General’s Blvd. (Lincolnton).

Drug Stores & Pharmacies: 1) The Drug Store- 625 Center Drive (Lincolnton) and 2) Keever Pharmacy- 102 Doctor’s Park (Lincolnton).

Funeral Homes  1) Carpenter-Porter Funeral Home & Cremation Services- 1100 East Main Street (Cherryville); 2) EF Drum Funeral Home- 210 North Academy Street (Lincolnton); 3) Good Samaritan Funeral Home- 3362 North Highway 16 (Denver); and 4) Warlick Funeral Home- 125 Dave  Warlick Drive (Lincolnton).

Where There’s A NEED. There’s a LION. When it comes to meeting challenges,

Lions Club International response is simple “WE SERVE.” Found in 1917 by Melvin Jones, an insurance executive in Chicago, Illinois, LIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL, the world’s largest co-educational service organization, has over 1.4 million members in over 46,000 clubs in 210 counties and geographic areas around the globe.

Lions are friends, family,  neighbors, and co-workers  who share a core belief –community is what we make it. Lions believe that the world gets better and problems get smaller when people unite to serve their local, and global community. Lions help where help is needed-in their own communities and around the world- with unmatched integrity and energy. Lions have opportunities to serve neighbors and people on the other side of the world whom they may never meet. Some ways  LIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL serves  and conducts their service projects/programs through  sight conservation, health screening, volunteering with youth, hunger programs, community/ environmental and disaster relief.

The Lincolnton Lions Club meets the 1st and 3rd Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. on the campus of Carolinas Health Care System- Lincoln in their Medical Plaza I’s Elm Classroom. Although the local Lions Club are continuously looking for dedicated community mind men and ladies to join their ranks, and assist with their various service projects and fund raisers,   membership is by  invitation. For more information regarding Lions Club International, NC Lions, Inc. please check out their websites:

LIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL-   http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/index.php
NORTH CAROLINA LIONS, INC.-  http://nclionsinc.org/