At our September 4 meeting, the Apex Lions Club welcomed Lion Danny Hall from the Zebulon Lions Club. A member since 1995, Lion Danny serves as the KidsightUSA District 31S Eyescreening Chair and the Vision and Hearing Mobile Screening Unit Coordinator. His presentation reminded us just how powerful early vision screenings can be in shaping a child’s future.
Lion Danny explained that Kidsight is a Lions Clubs International program that uses advanced cameras to quickly detect vision problems in children as young as six months old. In just a few seconds, screenings can uncover common issues like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, as well as neurological conditions such as amblyopia, often called lazy eye. These problems are not always obvious to parents or teachers, but if detected early, they can usually be corrected before causing lasting harm.
Hearing Lion Danny share the statewide numbers was impressive. Last year, North Carolina Lions screened nearly 47,000 children, and more than 7,000 of them were referred for follow-up care. Here in District 31S, screenings have already increased more than 200 percent this year compared to last year. Even more encouraging, referrals in our district have dropped from 21 percent to 12 percent, proof that more children are getting the help they need.
At the Apex Lions Club, this is not just theory it is our mission in action. For nearly ten years, our club has owned and operated our own vision screening camera. We have used it at public events such as Apex Peakfest, Apex Night Out, Touch-a-Truck, and in local churches, preschools, and private schools. Everywhere we go, parents and school nurses are surprised by how fast and easy the process is, and many are relieved to catch issues they would never have noticed otherwise.
Lion Danny closed his presentation with a reminder that none of this happens without volunteers. Every screening requires trained Lions to step up and help. Training is available and simple to complete, but it takes caring people to keep the program going and growing.
That is where you come in. If you want to make a difference for children in Apex and help protect their vision for years to come, we invite you to join us. The Apex Lions Club is proud to be part of this life-changing work, and with more hands, we can reach more families.
After Danny was finished we recalled how we learned the impact our camera could have the very first time we ever used it. It was in October when we offered screenings at an Apex Night Out event in the Target parking lot. A lady with twin girls walked by and we invited her to have screenings done. The girls had recently seen the eye doctor so she declined at first. But after telling her about our brand new camera she decided to have the girls screened. Each of them were referred so we printed out the reports and recommended she go back to the doctor for a second opinion (taking the reports as well). The following March, at our Fish Fry, she came back and told us that the doctor did find issues and both girls had glasses now. They were going to be fine and it was all because we convinced her to get them screened. We knew right then that our investment had paid off! We often don’t get to hear how our service actually impacts people but this was one of those special cases. It makes me proud to be a Lion!
We love doing these vision screenings. So if your school or organization would like us to perform screenings, please contact us to schedule a visit. This is a completely free service we provide as Lions proving once again that “We Serve.”
Learn more about our club and how to get involved at ApexLions.org
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