You could miss the mailboxes situated round city, at put up workplaces, and in entrance of metropolis corridor.
You can even see the Lions Club brand emblazoned on the New Britain Berlin YMCA.
The bins are a part of Lions Clubs International’s nationwide eyeglass recycling program, which collects each grownup and kids’s eyeglasses and sun shades and distributes them to growing international locations via optical missions and native Lions golf equipment.
Lions Clubs International has been working to battle visible impairment and blindness since 1925, the group mentioned. To this finish, native golf equipment have arrange assortment bins at numerous areas all through the neighborhood, the place folks can drop off their outdated or unused glasses and sun shades.
“The program continues to develop because the wants proceed to develop,” mentioned Doug Bray, a 39-year member of the New Britain Lions Club and membership secretary.
Lions Clubs have golf equipment in 204 international locations and ship eyeglasses to international locations thought of to be growing international locations.
They work with international locations within the Middle East, Africa, South and Central America.
“It feels good to be part of this. A number of the charity work we do helps different folks,” Bray mentioned. “The Lions Club motto is ‘We Serve.’ What makes Lions Clubs distinctive is that every membership does one thing that issues most in its neighborhood.”
The bins are a part of Lions Clubs International’s nationwide eyeglass recycling program, which collects each grownup and kids’s eyeglasses and sun shades and distributes them to growing international locations via optical missions and native Lions golf equipment. Contributed.
Lions Clubs International was based in 1917 by Chicago businessman Melvin Jones as a service-centered group with the aim of supporting communities via humanitarian service and selling peace and worldwide understanding via Lions golf equipment. Ta.
Most of the bins are handcrafted by members and are clearly marked with the recognizable Lions Club brand of two lion heads and marked “Drop your used glasses right here.” One exception is the New Britain City Hall field. This is a refurbished put up workplace assortment field. Each field holds as much as 400 glasses.
The New Britain Lions Club collects roughly 100,000 pairs of footwear every year, and greater than 60,000 of these pairs should be thrown away as a result of they’re damaged or unusable, the membership mentioned. Typically, roughly 40,000 are thought of accessible. New Britain can be the gathering heart for Hartford and Litchfield counties.
An intensive sorting course of is required earlier than the glass reaches its remaining vacation spot abroad.
The Lions Club is partnering with Syracuse Moving & Storage in New Britain, an expert transferring firm that gives the gathering area.
“Members of our membership approached our president, Mr. Dan Siracusa, and he has quite a lot of vitality in his neighborhood, and he gave us this very massive area the place all of our glasses are stored. I’m grateful to them. They’re so beneficiant and have such a neighborhood spirit at their core,” Bray mentioned.
In March, the glass will likely be trucked to a facility in Syracuse, the place volunteers will collect to kind the hundreds of items of glass.
“For three weekends, Lions spouses, native lecturers and college students from New Britain faculties, Boys and Girls Club members, and neighborhood members will handpick glasses and throw away damaged glasses. “For those that bundle and examine merchandise, somewhat effort provides quite a lot of reward,” he mentioned.
Broken glass is recycled.
The bins are a part of Lions Clubs International’s nationwide eyeglass recycling program, which collects each grownup and kids’s eyeglasses and sun shades and distributes them to growing international locations via optical missions and native Lions golf equipment.contributed
The Eyeglass Recycling Program started in 1925 on account of a request from Helen Keller, an advocate for the disabled who spoke on the Lions Clubs International Convention, asking them to additional the work of the American Foundation for the Blind and demanding that they: Did. Become a “blind knight on this campaign in opposition to darkness.” According to the Connecticut Historical Society, Mr. Keller lived in Connecticut for a time. Lions accepted her problem and labored to assist folks with visible impairments and create imaginative and prescient packages geared toward preventable blindness.
Lions encourages anybody who has outdated glasses or sun shades that they do not thoughts throwing away to discover a field and throw them in. “Glasses may also help others when glasses are not helpful,” Bray mentioned.
“When phrase spreads via the village that the Lions are coming to city, villagers line up. It’s nice.”