Unifour Children's Sight Bulletin Board

Vision Screeners 

Hope everyone is enjoying this first day of fall with a cooler temperature of 91 degrees??

Over the last few weeks several clubs have been very active in conducting children screenings along with making plans for several more during the last quarter of 2024.  Please take a few minutes with your club at your next meeting to reflect on the importance of what you are doing in helping our Unifour children have access to proper vision which can lead to major changes in their life. Your efforts truly exemplify our Lions Motto "We Serve". 

Also, over the last few weeks NC Lions have lost a key asset of our program, the VSP funding voucher. Currently there is no information on when or if the program may return, which leaves us at a huge disadvantage in helping children and seniors in need of financial assistance to acquire glasses.  But one thing I have learned is when one door shuts there will always be another one open. And with this situation our Unifour Childrens Sight program has had several doors opened to allow us to continue our assistance program. 

Literally,  the week we lost the VSP program a Longview community business owner had come to the Longview club with a $10k donation for the club to use in helping Longview families with vision financial assistance. We met with her and explained what had just happened with our VSP program and she opened up her assistance to any child in the Unifour area who is screened by one of the Unifour Children Sight clubs. Guidelines of the program will be listed below.

At our first senior screening event with Mt Sinai Baptist Church we were informed about a program by the Council of Aging that LensCrafters has available. In meeting with the local office manager, we learned that they do have a program that supports local 501c3  nonprofits in helping persons in acquiring  vision assistance. Guidelines of the program are also listed below. 

We have been blessed with great partners in our vision program especially our Optometrist group who volunteer with our senior screenings and our partner Good Samaritan Clinic. Without Dr Alan Winsett, Donald & Elizabeth York and Dr. Nathan Hitt we could not have the leading quality program we have. Currently 'Vision First' is also working with the UCS clubs along with using the Essilor program to furnish glasses to the USC clubs at a huge discount and also support the new children's assistance program.  

Lastly,  we also have available the NC Eyes program through DSS which is handled through our local DSS representative. This program is similar to the old VSP program except more cuberson to use but is there as a last resort.

Below are the guidelines of each program, if you have questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Benefield Vision Fund:

Program is to be used with assisting children ages 6 months through 19 years, no adults. The fund has enough funds to cover 29 kids for the remainder of 2024 with any leftover funds moved to the 2025 year. The guidelines are similar to income requirements of the VSP program except more lenient to allow for the local family income levels. The program will be administered through Terry Hall of the Long View Club and vision services provided by First Vision  using the Essilor program. 

LensCrafters Program:

This program is for all ages but we would like to utilize the Benefield Fund first. This is because our goal is to solicit the business community to contribute to this fund so it can continue for many more years, especially with the uncertainty of the VSP program. The Lenscrafter program requires a referral letter from the UCS program along with a copy of our 501c3 documents to be able to schedule a referred patient. As with the children's program we have developed a guideline and application form for certifying the patients needs. 

USC Partnership Program:

Our vision partner 'Vision First' has agreed to help the USC clubs in continuing financial support to our community. They have agreed to give UCS Clubs a reduced rate and using the Essilor program provide a set of glasses for $70.00. 

If you have any questions or would like the forms to submit an application please call or email me.

Thanks, Wayne Houser