Mission

The Mission of Lions Clubs International

Lions are recognized worldwide for their service to the blind and visually impaired. This service began when Helen Keller challenged the Lions to become her "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness" during the association's 1925 international convention.

Today, in addition to their international SightFirst program, Lions extend their commitment to sight conservation through countless local efforts:

Lions provide 600,000 free professional glaucoma screenings and make 20,000 corneal transplants possible each year.
Lions establish and support a majority of the world's eye banks, hundreds of clinics, hospitals and eye research centers worldwide
Lions provide thousands each year with free quality eye care, eyeglasses, Braille-writers, large print texts, white canes and guide dogs.
Lions collect more than 3 million pairs of used eyeglasses each year for distribution in developing countries.

Lions are also involved in a variety of other activities to improve their communities and help people in need, such as assisting the hearing impaired, and working with diabetes awareness and education, environmental projects and youth programs.

The Harper Lions Club buys eyeglasses for local needy school children and supports the local community in accordance with the principles of Lions Clubs International.