THE PLATTE CITY LIONS CLUB INSTALLATION AND HONORS DINNER

The Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation (MLERF) is the principal sight conservation project of the Missouri Lions. The Haywood Snipes Society was established to recognize Lions Clubs that make outstanding annual contributions to the Foundation. Clubs are eligible for a Haywood Snipes Award each time they donate a cumulative $10,000 to MLERF. Ms. Bahr presented the Platte City Lions' first Haywood Snipes Award to the club's entire membership, in recognition of the commitment they have shown to the fight against blindness..

During the ceremonies, the Platte City Lions announced the creation of a fund in Lion Arvid H. Edwards' name at the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation. Lion Edwards was singled out for his dedication to the club's sight conservation efforts. The club also made a large contribution to MLERF in memory of a recently-deceased member, Lion Gerald B. Hart. Lion Hart's widow, Mrs. Catherine Hart, received a special award at the Dinner. All of the funds donated by the Platte City Lions will go to support the Foundation's many sight preservation programs..

The Haywood Snipes Award honors the memory of the late Haywood Snipes, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Lion Snipes was a Missouri Lions Past District Governor, and he was the Chairman of the Missouri Lions Sight Committee during the late 1960's and the early 1970's. He was instrumental in the creation of the present-day Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation, engineering a successful $250,000 fund drive to expand the Lions sight restoration efforts throughout the state of Missouri..

Missouri's Lions have always made sight preservation a top priority. The original Lions Eye Bank in Missouri opened in 1960. That first Eye Bank's laboratories were housed in the Ophthalmology Department at the University of Missouri in Columbia. The nonprofit Eye Research Foundation of Missouri was formed in 1972, thanks in large part to the efforts of Lion Haywood Snipes..

The Foundation operates the Missouri Lions Eye Bank (MLEB), one of the largest eye banks in the United States. The MLEB concentrates on providing tissue for corneal transplants in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. During the 1996-97 fiscal year, the Eye Bank provided 1,628 corneas for transplants all over the world. That means that the Missouri Lions Eye Bank helped more than four transplant recipients each day, making sight possible again for people suffering from corneal disease or injury..

The eye bank is a vital part of MLERF, but it is not the only sight-saving program sponsored by Lions. The Foundation conducts glaucoma screens throughout the state of Missouri, and has tested more than 64,000 individuals for early warning signs of this disease since 1981. The Missouri Lions have also established an Eye Care Assistance Program, which helps provide eye care to needy people who do not qualify for government aid. Patients enrolled in this program are currently seen at hospitals in Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia, and Springfield, Missouri..

For details on these and other sight programs in your community, contact your local Lions Club, or the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation, at (573) 443-1471..