Oregon Lions to offer free vision, hearing screenings
The Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Lions Clubs of Oregon, is partnering with Lions Clubs and schools to help children in need of vision and hearing screenings statewide.
The Mobile Health Screening Program (MHSP) is part of the nonprofit’s 2020 Vision campaign that aims to have all Oregon school-aged children in kindergarten, first, third, and fifth graders screened annually for vision and hearing problems, a campaign that depends heavily on Lions and community volunteers.
This year, approximately 65,000 school children will be screened statewide, of which approximately 17 percent will be referred for comprehensive vision and/or hearing exams. Some of these students may be able to take advantage of OLSHF’s eye glass assistant program.
For vision screenings, OLSHF uses state-of-the-art photo screeners that capture detailed information from a single snapshot of a child’s eye. This results in less error, especially among non-native English speaking, pre-verbal, shy and hyper-active children. OLSHF will save the long-term vision of five percent of screened children who unknowingly suffer from amblyopia, a degenerative eye condition that must be detected early.
OLSHF is helping schools all across Oregon provide higher quality and more cost-effective screenings for students.
“The Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation is one of the premier school-based health screening organizations in the United States,” said Matt Livingston, School Health, Inc.
Oregon averages 2,026 students per school nurse making it almost impossible to screen every student. Tigard/Tualatin District Nurse Nancy Haning stated, “I was so impressed with the quality of testing that was done for our students. The Lion’s staff was knowledgeable, efficient, organized and great to work with. They went out of their way to train and support our district staff, and delivered a superior screening for our students.”
MHSP also provides free health screenings for sight, hearing, glaucoma, blood pressure and diabetes (with 3 hour fast) for adults. In the last two decades, more than 430,000 people in Oregon and Northern California have been screened, and because of it, 159,000 health problems have been successfully detected.
MHSP is the only free health screening program of its kind in Oregon and will serve approximately 70,000 Oregonians this year-95% of them children. For students in particular, early detection is vital. There is a strong correlation between a student’s success in school and their ability to see and hear. The MHSP provides critical early detection of sight and hearing difficulties that may be impacting a student’s ability to learn.
To see updates to scheduled screenings below, visit the Health Screenings section of the Programs page at www.olshf.org. For more information, to volunteer or to schedule a screening, please call Mara Steen, MHSP Manager at (503) 413-7527.
Note: Under Type, “S” is for School, “C” is for Community event.
Date and Time Type School or Location Address
Nov. 16 9-2 pm C Hallman Elementary School 4000 Dearhaven Dr. NE, Salem
Nov. 16 10-3 pm C First United Methodist Church 1165 NW Monroe Ave.,Corvallis
Nov. 18 @ 8am S West Tualatin View Elementary 8800 SW Leahy Rd., Portland
Nov. 18 @ 8am S Col. Wright School 610 West 14th St., The Dalles
Nov. 18 @ 8am S La Pine Middle School 16360 1st St., La Pine
Nov. 19 @ 8am S Brookings High School 625 Pioneer Rd., Brookings
Nov. 19 @ 8:30am S St Mary’s Academy 1112 Cherry Heights Rd., The Dalles
Nov. 19 @ 9am S La Pine Elementary 51615 Coach St., La Pine
Nov. 20 @ 8am S Rosland Elementary 52350 Yeager Way, La Pine
Nov. 20 @ 8:30am S Montclair Elementary SW Vermont St, Garden Home-Whitford
Nov. 20 @ 8:30am S Chenowith Elementary 922 Chenowith Loop Road, The Dalles
Nov. 21 @ 8am S Three Rivers Elementary 56900 Enterprise Dr., Sunriver
Nov. 21 @ 8:30am S Dry Hollow Elementary 1314 East 19th St., The Dalles
Nov. 22 @ 8am S Awbrey Park Elementary 158 Spring Creek Drive, Eugene
Nov. 22 @ 9am S Byrom Elementary 21800 SW 91st Ave, Tualatin
Nov. 22 @ 1pm S Durham Elementary 7980 SW Durham Rd, Tigard
Nov. 25 @ 8am S Nancy Ryles Elementary 10250 SW Cormorant Dr., Beaverton
Nov. 25 @ 8am S Mitch Charter School 10445 SW Canterbury Lane, Tigard
Nov. 26 @ 8am S McKay Elementary 7485 SW Scholls Ferry Rd., Beaverton
About Us
The Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation, founded in 1959, serves as the non-profit arm of the Lions Clubs of Oregon. The Mission of the Foundation is “to screen, treat, save, and restore sight and hearing, in partnership with Lions Clubs, in order to prevent blindness and deafness for those in need.” MHSP is one of numerous programs that the OLSHF operates to deliver humanitarian service; others include the Lions Patient Care Program, and the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Program. For additional information, please visit our website at www.olshf.org About Lions Clubs International Lions Clubs International is a service organization with 1.35 million members in 46,000 clubs around the globe. Started in 1917, Lions Clubs aim to provide services to blind and visually impaired individuals, as well as provide other services and humanitarian projects for local communities. For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit www.lionsclubs.org.
