This spring, the students, faculty, and staff at Ross Medical Education Center in Knoxville, Tennessee collected old prescription glasses to recycle for the Knoxville Tri-County Lions Club. “We had a great response from our campus, collecting over 20 pair of glasses to donate to the community,” shared Campus Director Mary Tanenbaum. “We decorated our Ross Tree to highlight the event. It was fun and a simple way to give back to Knoxville.” Many of the students were excited to bring in used eyeglasses to donate.
The motto of the International Lions Club is simple: “We serve.” In keeping with that, the local Knoxville Tri-County Lions Club is made up of just around 20 community leaders that are dedicated to working together to serve their community. They focus on helping people to see better and do so by funding eye exams and donating glasses to those that cannot afford them. They work to support a variety of local initiatives and are involved with the district-wide, statewide, and international Lions Club. However, even as they grow, the Lions Club has never deviated from their original area of focus: vision.
“This was our first time working with Lions Club in the Knoxville area, we were very excited for the opportunity to support their wonderful causes!” said Mary Tanenbaum, Campus Director at the Knoxville campus. After collecting the 20 pairs of prescription glasses from students, staff, and faculty, a few representatives from the campus went and dropped the glasses off at one of several designated drop off points in the community. After the glasses are dropped off, they are then collected throughout the month by Lions Club representatives. This allows any person or organization in the community the ability to donate when they have the opportunity.
If you want to learn more about this valuable organization and their initiatives, visit their website at www.lionsclubs.org.