Lions see to another pancake breakfast
Oct, 29-2009 12:30 pm
By STEVE PRISAMENT
Staff Writer
ABSECON – A fundraiser held Sunday, Oct. 25 will help the Galloway Township Lions Club see its way clear to assist the blind and visually impaired at the John D. Young Memorial Lions Blind Center.
The center was the site of a pancake breakfast that drew nearly 150 people for the food and raffles. Proceeds go to the club’s various charities, with the blind center sitting at the top of the list.
“All of the clubs in the area use the center for various functions,” said Kareen “Corkie” DiStefano of the Galloway Township Lions. “We all support the center. This is our fifth year holding pancake breakfasts. We have them twice a year – in April and October.”
The blind center is open three days a week, she said. Its computer center is in full use every Thursday.
Another project of the Galloway Township Lions is screening youngsters for amblyopia, or “lazy eye,” a disorder that results in dimness of vision.
It is the most common cause of vision problems in children, DiStefano said.
“If not corrected by age 5, the child can lose the sight in the eye,” she said. “We do Galloway Township schools, Port Republic, Assumption, Pilgrim Academy and Free to Be Day Care Center at Stockton.”
Students at Assumption Regional Catholic School were screened Wednesday, Oct. 28.
“If a teacher suspects something,” they often notify the center or the nearest Lions Club,” DiStefano said. “Separate screenings are arranged.”
Area Lions clubs include Absecon, Galloway Township, Brigantine, Ventnor-Margate, Mainland and Ocean City Lions and the Absecon Visionary Lions Club, comprised of blind or visually impaired members,
“The Lions’ basic function is to help the blind,” said blind center President Fred Frisch. “The clubs all help the program here. They do fundraising for cornea transplants and provide eyeglasses for those who are economically unable to obtain them for themselves.”
To comment on this story email steve.prisament@catamaranmedia.com.
