Hawaiʻi Lions holding 17th annual eyeglasses, hearing aids and new food drive

The Hawaiʻi Lions are holding its 17th annual statewide “Lions in Sight” eyeglass and hearing aid collection on Saturday, Jan. 24.

This year, the event also will include The Food Basket and Hawaiʻi Foodbank. Those nonprofits will be collecting non-perishable food items, including canned goods, cereal, pasta, rice and juice.

Volunteers from hundreds of Hawaiʻi Lions clubs and youth LEO clubs will staff 10 locations across the state, including four on the Big Island. The sites are: KTA Super Stores in Hilo, Kona Shopping Center, Waikōloa Village and Waimea. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The program encourages residents to comb through dresser drawers and closets during spring cleaning and donate any unused eyewear to the Lions Recycle For Sight program. Collected glasses and sunglasses are cleaned, sorted by prescription, and prepared for distribution in developing countries where eye care is often unaffordable or inaccessible, including Afghanistan, Samoa and the Philippines.

In addition to the eyeglasses, hearing aids also will be collected, cleaned and tested for local distribution.

According to the World Health Organization, corrective lenses could improve vision for roughly one-fourth of the world’s population.

The Lions Clubs of District 50 will celebrate 100 years of dedicated service in Hawaiʻi in 2026.