Eyeglass Recycling Project
We have been approached by interested people to recycle used eyeglasses into developing countries. We know of at least two countries that will take as many glasses as we can supply - Sri Lanka and Vanuatu.
There is no need to sort them as opticians and eye doctors in the recipient countries grade them, regrind them, if required and give them out to grateful patients.
The cry of excitement of, "I can see again!" is incalculable.
This is an easy project to set up.
Find below a pro forma letter, originally prepared by Carmine Conte of Rotary Club of Moreland which he distributed to businesses in his area. The response has been very gratifying. The glasses were packed into A4 boxes and delivered to the Essendon DIK Store for forwarding on to developing countries.
Also, I would ask you to consider approaching your Board for funds to send them from the Essendon Store to the recipient country. This is vital.
The eyeglasses that you bring must be in good condition (i.e. in a condition that you would personally want to wear). The eyeglasses must not include broken eyeglasses, bifocals, or any eyeglasses with an astigmatism prescription. Bringing these types of unuseable glasses would not fulfil the eyeglass requirement and would result in the eye clinic needing to discard the glasses, thereby creating waste and resulting in fewer useable supplies for the clinic.
- • Non-prescription sunglasses (i.e. regular sunglasses)
- • Reading glasses (i.e. to correct vision for those who cannot see near)
- • Spherical-only distance glasses (i.e. no astigmatism/cylinder prescriptions)
+2 indicates a spherical prescription only.
Three separate numbers indicate a spherical prescription of +2 with a cylindrical prescription of -1 and an axis of 180.These glasses are an astigmatism prescription and cannot be used.
(Courtesy of UniteForSight Program)
pasted into a Word document for your own use:
Eyeglass Project
Dear Friend,
Do you wear glasses to assist with your eyesight? More importantly, do you have an old pair lying around the house or office somewhere, that you no longer wear? If your answer to both questions is 'yes', then please read on.
Donations In Kind is a program of Rotary Australia Worldwide Community Service whereby Rotarians and Rotary Clubs source surplus goods and products that are of no further use in Australia. These goods, however, are valuable to those in developing countries. After the goods are collected, a central co-ordination committee stores, packs and dispatches the goods to a charitable organisation in a developing country. Not all second-hand or surplus goods are suitable for use overseas but one item that such countries desperately need is, believe it or not, eyeglasses.
Several Victorian Rotary Districts participate in the Donations in Kind program. Recently, the Rotary Club of XXXX in conjunction with Donations in Kind has begun a project whereby the Club is attempting to collect redundant eyeglasses for packing and dispatch to a developing country (nominated by Donations in Kind).
The Rotary Club of XXX is trying to source as many spectacles as possible over the course of the next month. So, if you have a pair of eyeglasses that you no longer make use of, please consider dropping them into my drop off point which is XXXXX (address) at some stage over the next fortnight or two.
Thanks for your time,
Rotary Club of XXXX
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Contributed by:
David Meller PP PHF
Rotary Club of Strathmore
Southern Region Co-ordinator Rotary International of DIK
Ph: (03) 9379 3577
Mob: 0409 165553
e-mail: dmeller@optusnet.com.au
