Spec collection vision aims to save sight

Brian Hawkins (l) of Greerton Lions, Bayfair Specsavers & retail director Glenn Dunkerley (centre) and Hugh Hughes from Mount Maunganui Lions. Photo/supplied

Saving spectacles and saving sight is the thinking behind the long-standing Lions Sight First project.

One of the major building blocks of the programme is the collection and redistribution of glasses.

Across New Zealand, glasses are collected and then those that are deemed suitable are sent to Pacific Islands.

September sees a major drive in the collection of the unwanted glasses with Specsavers stores the collection points.

Once donated, the specs are shipped to a central collection point where they are checked for wear and tear, damage to lenses or frames and whether they are multi-focal or bi-focal.

If the spectacles pass those tests they are then cleaned in an ultrasonic bath and the lenses checked on a digital lens meter, packed with the lens readings and dispatched to Volunteer Ophthalmologist Services Overseas (VOSO) in Auckland Hospital.

VOSO consists of teams of volunteer eye surgeons, optometrists and eye care workers who visit the Pacific's isolated communities during their time off work and bring enhancement to the lives of hundreds of people annually.

Specsavers at Bayfair and in Tauranga are collection points and, in addition, the stores will donate $5 from every eye examination to the Fred Hollows Foundation which raises funds for cataract surgery to restore sight in the Asia Pacific region.

Every pair donated in September will also receive a $50 voucher towards a new pair of Specsavers glasses.