Lions Club screens students at Newton Schools

Cheryl Owens/News Editor
The Newton Record

NEWTON August 20, 2008 12:31 pm

— Thanks to the Lions Club in Newton some students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades at Pilate Middle School and Newton Elementary will see the world in a new light.
On Thursday Lions Club members Robbie Robertson, George Schwaeble, Allen Woolley, David Carr and Ross Floyd visited the two schools to screen the vision of the students with their eye examining machines.
“We do this service for parents that can’t financially afford to buy glasses for their children,” Lions Club President David Pitts said. “At one time we had the eye equipment in a big motor home until a couple of years ago one of the members found the eye machines on E-Bay and we bought them.”
Past President Robbie Robertson said they screened about 240 kids and out of that group they recommended 45 for eye exams.
“They say that the fourth grade is one of the years the students start to have vision loss,” Robertson said. “In one way it was uplifting to go into the community to do that but on the other hand it was sad to see so many kids that needed some help.”
Robertson said the school nurse will be contacting those parents to let them know their children do need further doctor visits and strongly urges those parents to get the kids to the eye doctor and get them checked out.
“It only takes one case like Bruce Weir, he was a student at Newton that went through the screening program and found out he needed glasses,” Robertson said. “After he received the glasses he was a straight A student, got a degree from Ole Miss and last we heard he was at Harvard Business School. He gives the credit to the Lions Club for getting him the eye glasses.”
“It only takes one story like that to understand why this is an important thing,” Robertson said. “There were several kids who had been to the eye doctor before and had glasses at some point, but for some reason they didn’t have them. They said they were lost, broken or had been stolen and the parents didn’t have money to buy new ones.”
Robertson said the Lions Club is here to help those that can’t pay for eye exams and the glasses.
“If they don’t have the money they will need to go to Newton Eye Care and pick up a form to fill out,” Robertson said. After revueing the form we will see if they meet the requirements, if they do we will take care of their eye exam and get them some glasses.
“Vision is the Lions Club main goal according to Robertson. It is to help people with sight and vision problems, this is one event we are able to do. It only takes one case, just to know if we help one child get a pair of eyeglasses if could change their future. That’s the Lions Club that is what we do!”

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