Lions do sight-saving, life-changing work

August 26, 2022 admin COMMUNITY 0

RESPONDING TO A REQUEST from the city, painting fire hydrants and street signs was a club project in 1973. Longtime Lions pictured are Don Fahlenkamp, at left, and Larry Homes.

Text and Photos by Roger Allen

Montezuma Corneal Tissue Transporters Give of their Time and Over 100,000 Miles

A life-changing project in which Montezuma Lions play a significant, important role is the transporting of donated corneal eye tissue to the Iowa Lions Eye Bank, in Coralville.

According to Ashley Dockendorf, constituent relations coordinator at the Eye Bank, in 2021 there were 880 corneas donated to the eye bank and 624 recipients.

The remaining cornea tissues were used for research. The youngest transplant recipient was three months old and the oldest was 97 years old.

In a recent program for the Grinnell Lions Club, Dockendorf explained the entire process from donor to recipient: Donor consent is received, cornea is processed by a recover technician, Iowa Lions transport

tissue to the eye bank, cornea is evaluated to determine suitability for transplant; surgery is performed, sight is restored, and the donor is honored.

IN THIS 2006 photograph, Lions member Keith Brake shows a Presbyterian Day Care child the picture he had just taken of her eyes with the Iowa KidSight camera on his lap. From the beginning of the program here in 2002 a Polaroid-style camera was used until 2012-2013 when the process was greatly improved with specialized digital cameras. Each camera costs about $10,000. Several clubs including Montezuma share a camera that is housed by the Grinnell Lions Club.

In July 2009 the Lions Clubs of Iowa took over tissue transporting from the Iowa State Patrol when it was determined the Patrol could no longer provide that service.

There are 21 Lions clubs participating in the network of transporters from western and central Iowa that Montezuma volunteer drivers are part of.

Montezuma drivers meet up with transporters in Grinnell to complete the relay to Coralville.

In the 2021-2022 Lions year, among the 21 clubs Montezuma was second only to Grinnell in the number of miles driven. Montezuma’s volunteers totaled 6,450 miles. (The Grinnell total was 20,150.)

The Montezuma total since 2009 is 101,265 miles as of June 30, 2022.

THE HONOR M BANQUET was sponsored by the Lions club for over 40 years, in support and recognition of students for their successes in their extracurricular activities. At first, in the mid 1940s several organizations combined to sponsor the event but the Lions soon became the sole sponsor, in cooperation with the school. Typical attendance was 250 to 300 people. The president of the Lions club welcomed everyone, such as President Craig Watts is pictured doing in March 1988. Celebrity individuals presided as emcees and guest speakers for the awards portion of the evening. 1988 was the last year the banquet was held, as it had evolved that each individual sport or activity was having its own recognition event.

At least 10 Montezuma Lions have participated at various times since 2009. Four Montezuma Lions have participated each quarter of the past year, donating 43 round trips of 150 miles each. They were Dick Gregory – 14 transports, 2,100 miles; Bill Schultz – 11 transports, 1,650 miles; Roger Cox – 9 transports, 1,350 miles; Mike Princer – 9 transports, 1,350 miles.

Montezuma supports Iowa Lions Foundation

The Iowa Lions Eye Bank was established in 1955 with the support of Iowa Lions clubs. That was also near the time when what was originally called the Iowa Lions Sight Conservation Foundation and now called the Iowa Lions Foundation (ILF), was founded.

In addition to the Eye Bank the ILF has supported the Iowa KidSight program, the Cochlear Implant Center, Glaucoma and Diabetes screenings, schools for the blind and for the deaf and other sight- and hearing-related entities and causes.

MONTEZUMA LIONS sponsored the Iowa Lions’ “Glaucomobile” here several different years. Screening for Glaucoma and Diabetes was provided on the mobile unit at no cost to citizens. Nurses in the community volunteered their assistance, such as Bev Smothers, pictured in 1984 checking the blood pressure of Roger Watson. Area optometrists volunteered their time to do the screening for Glaucoma.

In 1977, Montezuma Lions donated over $1,000 and $250,000 was raised to help build the Iowa Lions Cornea Center at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology. Over the approximately 65 years since its beginning, Montezuma Lions have annually contributed $1,000 or more to the Iowa Lions Foundation, totaling over $65,000 – made possible by the community’s support of the club’s fund-raising projects.

Iowa KidSight

Another sight-saving, life-changing service in which Montezuma Lions are active is the Iowa Lions project called Iowa KidSight. It is a joint project of the Lions Clubs of Iowa and the Department of Ophthalmology & amp; Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, dedicated to enhancing the early detection and treatment of vision impairments in young children (target population 6 months of age through kindergarten) in Iowa communities through screening and public education.

Donations by Lions clubs across Iowa have made it possible.

The goals of the project are:

* Objectively screen vision in infants and young children throughout all of Iowa’s 99 counties – for FREE

* Educate the public about the risk of undetected vision loss.

* Identify ways to sustain vision screening programs of this type.

* Detecting vision irregularities at a young age is when it is most possible to correct them.

Locally, screenings have primarily been done at the school, but also at day care facilities.

FOR “RAGBRAI” – the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa – Montezuma has been a breakfast or lunch stop at least three times this century: In 2001, when this photo was taken; again in 2006 and in 2018. The city has counted on the Lions Club being a leading participant each time. The Lions’ sign and booth are in the center in the photo, taken from a rooftop at the northwest corner of the city square.

Pictures are taken of just a child’s eyes. The pictures are transmitted to the Iowa KidSight headquarters in Coralville, where each photo is analyzed by a specialist. If a problem is detected the parents or guardians are notified and an appointment with a vision specialist is recommended.

The program began in 2000 and teams of trained Montezuma Lions have been doing screenings annually since 2002. In those 20 years the Montezuma team has screened 549 children, with 47 children being referred for further examination.

The program has grown across Iowa each year and has become a model project adopted by many other states. For all of Iowa well over half a million children have beencreened. In 2021 for example 37,870 children were screened.

There are several irregularities that are discovered in statistically significant numbers. Astigmatism is the most common, followed by near- or far-sightedness and “lazy eye.” There are many stories, including locally, where parents have been surprised – and grateful – to learn their child had a vision condition that needed correcting and the needed correction was begun.

If Iowa KidSight is a program you would like to become involved in, become a Lions member and complete the online training.

ONE OF THE LIONS’ annual projects that raises funds and brings visitors to town is the annual Toy and Craft Show, normally held at the school the last Saturday in January. It was first held in 1994 so the January 2023 show will be year 29 for the event.