Sights for Hope Tops Prior Year’s Lions Campaign Total, Announces New Lions Club for Monroe Clients

Sights for Hope surpassed its previous year’s Lions Campaign total Tuesday during its Lions4Sight 2022 Breakfast. Sights for Hope also announced on Tuesday the formation of the Monroe Sights for Hope Lions Club, a branch of the Stroudsburg Lions Club.

Sights for Hope’s Lions 2021-2022 Campaign has raised $30,889 to date, surpassing the previous year’s total of $29,552. Lions Clubs and districts have until June 30 to participate in this year’s campaign.

The Lions4Sight Breakfast allows Sights for Hope to recognize Lions Clubs and districts for their support of previous campaigns and gives the groups opportunities to pledge their support for the current campaign. No breakfast was held for 2020-2021 campaign and many Lions groups were not able to hold their respective fundraisers because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s breakfast also included the presentation of Sights for Hope’s Accessibility Champion Award to Lion Douglas Yingling, who served as the organization’s Executive Director from 2011-2020.

The Monroe Sights for Hope Lions Club was created in partnership with the Stroudsburg Lions Club and Pennsylvania Lions District 14-U to provide Sights for Hope’s Monroe County clients a chance to be active in their community. People who do not have a visual impairment and live in Monroe County also may become members. The club will hold its organizational meeting on Wednesday, March 30 at Sights for Hope’s Monroe Services Center.

Inaugural membership of the Monroe Sights for Hope Lions Club will consist of Sights for Hope clients and Jennifer Pandolfo, the organization’s Associate Director and Director of Services. Club meetings will take place monthly at the Monroe Services Center. Additional information is available at SightsforHope.org/MonroeLionsClub.

The Lehigh Valley Sights for Hope Lions Club, a branch of the Whitehall Lions Club, formed in February. The separate clubs are necessary because Lions in Lehigh and Northampton counties are part of Pennsylvania District 14-K and Lions in Monroe County are part of Pennsylvania District 14-U.

Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization, with 1.4 million members in 200 countries. Lions are known throughout the world for their work to improve the lives of people with visual impairments and to prevent avoidable impairments. Sights for Hope traces its inception to efforts by Lions clubs from Lehigh and Northampton counties in 1928. Lions clubs and districts in the Lehigh Valley area and Monroe County provide financial support to Sights for Hope annually.

Sights for Hope blends a service tradition inspired by Helen Keller nearly a century ago with contemporary practices to remove the barriers to independence and success caused by visual impairments. Sights for Hope transforms the lives of people with visual impairments in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County through life skills education, specialized technologies, individualized support services, free vision screenings for children, and community education programs. Sights for Hope services impact more than 10,000 people in a typical year and are provided at little or no cost. A total of 85% of Sights for Hope clients with visual impairments are from low-income households. Sights for Hope, known formerly as Center for Vision Loss, is a member of the VisionServe Alliance, a network of North American agencies that serve people with visual impairments.

Image: Dennis Zehner, Executive Director and CEO of Sights for Hope, at the podium during the Lions4Sight 2022 Breakfast