Graduation night at the Dog Guides Training Centre

It was amazing to attend the Lions Foundation of Canada (LFC) Dog Guides Graduation night and witness this pivotal night in each graduate’s life with their new Dog Guide. To meet the beneficiary and see the impact of all our hard work was just heart-warming.

Meeting John and Zircon with the rest of the HRCCA board members.

Last year it was an honour to co-chair Halton Region Chinese Canadian Association’s Chinese New Year Fundraiser, in which we as a community raised over $11,000 for Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and LFC Dog Guides. So, fast-forward to a year later, to actually see the fruit of our hard work and how it benefited someone in our community was remarkable. John is an outstanding gentleman, who became visually-impaired in his adult life, now has Zircon, his new Canine Vision Dog Guide to assist him with everyday tasks. With Zircon, John seems to be even more confident and motivated to continue with his public speaking career. I am honoured to have had this privilege to give back and help an individual through LFC Dog Guides.

Cheque presentation with fellow Co-Chairs, HRCCA President and representatives from CNIB and LFC Dog Guides

On a personal note, it was also a treat to run into one of my favourite and previous professor, Marilyn Smith from the University of Waterloo School of Optometry. You may know my long and continuing history with Lions Clubs International, so to learn we were co-sponsoring John and Zircon with the UW School of Optometry Campus Lions was extra special. It’s inspiriting to know younger and upcoming optometrists, and soon-to-be young professionals, have a passion in serving the community. I hope once they graduate with their doctorate, this passion will only continue to grow as it has for me. 

If you would like to learn more about the Dog Guides and how you can get involved, please visit their website www.dogguides.com

Marilyn Smith and I with a fellow graduate of the Canine Vision Dog Guide Program. 

Changing Lives - One Pair at a Time

Do you remember the first time you put on your eyeglasses? Do you remember that feeling of suddenly being able to see clearly and realizing what you've been missing out on? Well, image you are able to give that gift to someone. Would you? And I'm not trying to persuade you to become an optometrist or switch careers. I am referring to your old pair of eyeglasses that may have a now out-dated prescription or that may be too old they are considered out of fashion. Your old pair of eyeglasses that you may have considered to toss in the trash. That same pair of eyeglasses can change a person's life. 

Consider donating your old eyeglasses the next time you purchase a pair. Since we opened our doors 9 years ago, we have been collecting old eyeglassess for the Lions Clubs International Recycle for Sight program. A program which sees Lions Clubs from all over the world collect used eyeglasses where they are then cleaned, sorted by prescription strength, and then packaged to be delivered and distributed to people in need in developing countries. To learn more about this program, please visit the official Lions Clubs website. 

Above is a photo of our recent donation of over 500 eyeglasses to Lion Jeffrey, the Recycle for Sight Coordinator for our area (District A7-11) of Lions Clubs. It was just a few boxes to add to his garage full of eyeglasses ready to ship to the main sorting facility in Calgary. Seeing this just shows what we can all achieve if we all just pitch in a little bit and work together. Together, we can.