DO YOU “SEE” WHAT I MEAN?

Another day of packing, another opportunity for goodness!

Today, I found several pairs of out-of-date prescription glasses that my husband used to wear, and (again) instead of throwing them out, I did some research to see if prescription eyeglasses was something that could be donated somewhere.

Did you know that donating your old eyeglasses can save someone in a developing nation from unemployment?  Well, with the price of glasses exceeding three months’ average salaries in some African countries, donated eyeglasses are the only feasible way to bring sight to many visually impaired. These recycled glasses can be the difference between a blacksmith continuing his work or closing up shop.

Medical missions often call their eye care facilities “joy clinics” because of the happiness that eyeglass donations bring. Imagine the feeling of being a boy who constantly did poorly in school because he couldn’t see the words in his books all of a sudden having reading make sense because he received the gift of recycled glasses!

Yet while some mothers in poor, rural areas have never even clearly seen the faces of their children, more than four million pairs of unused eyeglasses go into the garbage in North America each year!

We can stop this and make a huge difference in someone else’s life simply by donating unworn eyeglasses and spreading the word to others.  I took Matt’s old glasses to LenCrafters today, and they just had a bin where you could toss in your old glasses for donation.  It was really easy and you can rest assured that your old glasses are going to help those in need, rather than sit in our landfills for years and years.

You can even donate old or unused sunglasses, and we all have a pair or two of those that we can definitely part with! (Sunglasses can be non-prescription, as they are needed in countries near the equator to help protect people’s eyes from sun damage.)

Collection facilities include Goodwill stores, LensCrafters stores, and Lions Club drop boxes.

You can also send your glasses in padded envelopes or boxes to:

New Eyes for the Needy
549 Millburn Avenue
P.O. Box 332
Short Hills, NJ 07078

You can help spread the word and ask your friends who wear glasses if they have old pairs that could be recycled for people with eyesight problems.  You can even check with lost and found departments in hotels and stores for unclaimed glasses that could be donated as well.

Now you “see” what I mean!