The East Cobb Lions Club has taken on a huge task of conducting eye screenings for many Cobb County Schools. Cobb County requires eye screening for grades 1, 4, 7 and 10. Club members have assisted with many of the screening for grades 1, 4 & 7.
In order to conduct the screenings, the Lions Club purchased two Spot machines at a cost of $7,500 each. The Spot Vision Screener is a handheld, portable device designed to help users quickly and easily detect vision issues on patients from 6 months of age through adult. The “Spot” screens both eyes at once from a nonthreatening 3-foot distance. The child sits in a chair and “gets their picture made” which reads the eyes and will show a pass or fail. A printout of all the failed screenings is provided to the school so a report can be sent home to the parents. If a child is not able to afford a complete eye exam and glasses, the East Cobb Lions Club will assist those in need. Lions Club volunteers are able to screen about 100 students per hour. With this new “Spot” technology, Lions can screen in half a day what used to take 2 to 3 days!
In 2016, almost 4,000 eye screenings were conducted. And in 2017 they provided 10,000 screenings with the help from other Cobb Lions which include members from Smyrna Jonquil Lions Club, Marietta Lions Club and Atlanta Latino Lions Club.
The East Cobb Lions Club has also played a large role in supporting Goal Ball–a Paralympic team sport designed specifically for blind athletes. The East Cobb Lions Club provided many volunteers and fed the players for the 2015 National Tournament and the 2017 Regional Tournament, both held in Cobb County. Several of these participants made the USA team that received a Silver Medal in Rio!
Since Lions Clubs International was founded in 1917, Lions have worked on projects designed to prevent blindness, restore eyesight and improve eye health and eye care for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Sight is one of Lions defining causes. Lions have gained worldwide recognition for their work to improve sight and prevent blindness.
The East Cobb Lions Club is in its 59th year of service. They are an active and growing group of service-minded men and women who are interested in improving our community. Lions are young people, families and Baby Boomers alike. To become a Lion is to become an active volunteer, a member of a respected international organization, a leader in your community and a friend to people in need. Those interested can learn more about what the East Cobb Lions Club does by visiting eclions.org or attending their meetings at 6:30pm every 2nd Tuesday at the Come-N-Get It restaurant, 1409 Church Street Ext in Marietta/East Cobb.
This article originally appeared in the January issue of the EAST COBBER magazine on page 22. Click HERE to access the digital edition.
