Selkirk and District Lions Club helps connect medical devices to new owners
If you have used eyeglasses or hearing aids you no longer require, the Lions Club recycling program will find a new owner in need of these medical devices.
Used eyeglasses can be dropped off at Anderson Family Vision Care (353 Main Street), Clarity Vision Centre (415 Main Street), Walmart (1016 Manitoba Avenue) or the drop box at the Lions Manor building (316 Christie Avenue). Sunglasses are not a part of the program in Canada at this time but may be in the future. Hearing aids can be dropped off at Lions Manor.
Selkirk and District Lions Club members sort through the eyeglasses, package them and take them to the Lions Foundation of Manitoba and Northwest Ontario, which sends them to the Canadian Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centre. The centre then connects the glasses to the new owners.
People who are in need of hearing aids or eyeglasses but cannot afford them can contact the Lions Club, which will help them get set up to receive a pair through the recycling program.
Earlier in June, Nandeen Satheesh, president of the Selkirk and District Lions Club, said club members sorted through more than 300 pairs of eyeglasses that were collected.
“Usually you’re looking at $500 or $600 to spend for eyeglasses every two years,” said Satheesh. “People can’t afford it. That’s where [the recycling program] comes in handy.”
Hearing aids are also expensive and can cost thousands of dollars.
The company Amplifon is a partner in the recycling program and refurbishes and reprograms the donated hearing aids.
Those who cannot afford to purchase hearing aids or eyeglasses or who have questions about the recycling program can contact the Selkirk and District Lions Club by email (selkirklionsclub@gmail.com) or on Facebook (facebook.com/selkirklions).
Lions Clubs have chapters internationally and offer support in the community “to improve health and wellbeing, strengthen communities and support those in need through humanitarian service and grants that impact lives globally, and encourage peace and international understanding,” as the Lions Club website states.
