Local Lions want to help you maintain healthy vision | BALANCE

Published 1:18 pm Saturday, February 7, 2015

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Balance, the 2015 Sound Fitness & Health Guide.

BY LESLIE KELLY

James Schoettler has an eye for better vision. And so do other Lions Club members throughout Kitsap County.

January was National Eye Care Month. But any month is a great time to take a look at your vision.

Schoettler and more than 85 other members of the Poulsbo Lions Club are determined to help anyone in the community who may have a vision problem.

The Poulsbo Lions Club is partnering with the Poulsbo Library to offer a free vision screening clinic from 3-5 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the library. The clinic will be repeated on March 31 and April 28.

According to Schoettler, a main goal of the Lions Clubs internationally is sight conservation.

“There are a number of ways that we are working on that,” he said. “We pick up used eye glasses and send them to a processing place in Lacey where they are cleaned and the prescription is read and classified. Those glasses are then sent to people in Third World countries through missionary workers.”

Here in the U.S., Lions Clubs such as Poulsbo, work to offer vision screenings, especially to pre-school children, so that any vision problems can be caught and corrected before children enter school.

“We want to catch anything that is wrong so that it can be dealt with before they begin school,” he said. “So that it is not a hinderance to them as they study. We don’t want any child to get behind in school just because they need glasses.”

Once a child is screened and a determination is made as to what the child needs, the Lions then can help with the cost of further vision care by a professional and glasses if needed.

“Sometimes these kids come from families that can’t afford glasses,” he said. “We can help with that, too.”

The Poulsbo Lions Club has two Welch Allyn SureSight screening machines which are used to determine common problems such as far sightedness, near sightedness, astigmatism and amblyopia or what’s commonly know as lazy eye. There are six Poulsbo Lions who are trained to use the machines at the clinics to determine sight problems.

Additionally, the club goes out to community fairs and kids’ days to do screenings.

The machines they use each cost $7,000 and the Lions fundraised to purchase them and to help with eye care health throughout the year. Events include their annual dinner and auction.

“Everything we raise goes back into the community,” he said.

Schoettler has been a Lion for more than 25 years. He’s been the committee chairman for the screening project for a couple of years. A retired Poulsbo grocer, his dedication to good sight is genuine.

“It was way back in 1927 when Helen Keller challenged all Lions Clubs to become the ‘Knights of the blind,’” he said. “We’ve been doing this work ever since.”

He said any person of any age can be screened, even those as young as infants.

“When you are very young, your eyes are changing all the time,” he said. “It’s hard to pinpoint how bad the situation is. But catching anything early is the best thing.”

Schoettler said the Poulsbo Lions are also working with Peninsula Hearing to begin hearing screenings that will work similar to the sight screenings.

Eye doctors suggest an annual eye exam because vision changes continually and finding issues early is important.

Other local Lions Clubs that provide vision checks are:

• Bremerton Central Lions (www.bremertoncentralwa.lionwap.org)

• Silverdale Sunrise Lions (www.e-clubhouse.org/sites/silverdalesunrisewa)

• Silverdale Dandy Lions (www.silverdaledandywa.lionwap.org)

• Port Orchard Lions (www.portorchardwa.lionwap.org).

Writer Leslie Kelly can be reached at lkelly@soundpublishing.com.