Crossville Lions Club hosting its second free vision clinic this Saturday to provide eye exams and prescription glasses to Cumberland County residents in need.
Club President Tim Hester said the organization partners with a local doctor’s office to facilitate the event. The club also operates the Shoot for Sight fundraiser, which has served as the primary source of funding for community service projects for three decades.
“It has been our biggest fundraiser though over the last thirty years and it has allowed us to help a lot of people out with both eyeglasses and even we did a food distribution giveaway a couple years ago where we packaged up large amounts of food to be handed out to those in need,” Hester said.
The vision clinic does not require participants to meet any specific income or financial eligibility standards. Hester said a scheduler manages the appointments for those seeking assistance.
“There is no income requirement at all,” Hester said. “We do have a scheduler that you call her and she will schedule a time to come but we don’t ask anything about finances or income for this.”
While the clinic focuses on basic exams to determine prescriptions, the process can identify more serious health concerns. Hester said doctors discovered several patients during last year’s event who required follow-up appointments for more intense vision problems.
“For the eye clinic that we’re doing this coming Saturday, it’s mainly just a basic eye exam to determine glasses,” Hester said. “There have been I know last year when we did this, the eye doctors did find some people that needed follow-up and they scheduled them to come back for a follow-up visit for more intense problems that they had.”
The Shoot for Sight program generates revenue through a partnership with two local high schools and their basketball teams. Hester said the fundraiser relies on sponsors who pledge donations based on the number of three-point shots made by the boys’ and girls’ teams throughout the season.
“What the Lions Club needs, of course, is anytime we’re doing something like the Shoot for Sight, sponsors,” Hester said. “We’re always needing new sponsors for various events that we have, fundraisers that we have. But we also need volunteers. We need people who are interested in becoming a Lion and giving their time to help others in the county.”
The organization also conducts Kid Sight eye exams for students ranging from preschool to high school and hosts an annual coat drive in November.
