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Lions Club requests school partnership to provide free student vision screenings
Summary
Longview and Valdez Lions Club representatives asked the Burke County board to partner on in-school vision screenings and to help distribute information; presenters said the clubs screened roughly 3,000 children across four counties in three years and provided about 120 free glasses since May 2024.
During the public-comment period, Wayne Houser of the Longview Lions Club and Tamara Strickley of the Valdez Lions Club offered their organizations’ free vision-screening services to Burke County Public Schools.
Houser told the board the Lions have expanded their mission from serving people who are blind to preventive work with children using portable optics equipment that can screen a child’s eyes “in a matter of seconds.” He asked whether the clubs could provide pamphlets and coordinate screenings at schools and Head Start programs; he said the clubs have screened about 3,000 children across four counties over the last three years and provided roughly 120 eyeglasses in the community since May 2024.
Board members thanked the presenters and asked staff to follow up. The presenters emphasized that their services are free and offered contact cards to facilitate scheduling and partnership with individual schools.
"We're people from here in the community, and we're here to help," Houser said, summarizing the clubs’ local outreach.
The board closed public comment and proceeded to the consent agenda.
