The KidSight Project is one of the programs to provide preventative screenings by the Lions Clubs of District 13-D** which targets preverbal/preschool age children.  Conducting complete eye exams of children under six years of age is often not done because the children do not have the verbal ability to explain what they can and cannot see.  Early detection of eyesight disorders is needed to adequately identify young children with vision problems before it is too late to take corrective action.

Through the MELVIN JONES DISTRICT 13-D LIONS EYE CARE FOUNDATION, the Hartville Lions Club is beginning to provide free vision screening for the area's pre-schools.

The KidSight Project provides a simple non-invasive method of screening young children for eye disorders. It uses a portable camera (please click to open the link: MTI Photoscreener) with high-speed film to identify eye disorders in young children that can lead to serious vision problems. It is important that the common types of eye problems detected using this screening procedure, such as amblyopia, be identified and treated in children less than six or seven years of age before it is too late for treatment to be effective.  The photographs also can determine the presence of eye disorders including far and nearsightedness, astigmatism, strabismus (misaligned eyes), anisometropia (unequal refractive power), and media opacities (i.e., cataracts).  No physical contact is made with the child, and eye drops are not necessary. The eye conditions and the screening process are explained further by clicking the link here.  This screening has been found to be 85-90% effective in detecting problems that can cause decreases in vision. Its success was the subject of a recent report in the journal Ophthalmology (click to open the link).

The KidSight Project is the Lions Clubs' newest program in preventative screenings.  Here is some history of the organization: In the mid 1960's a District Eye Bank and Research Foundation was established which provided donated eyes and eye tissues to enhance or provide vision to the sight impaired. In 1998 the Eye Bank was dissolved and the Melvin Jones District 13D Lions Eye Care Foundation was created.  The new organization had several purposes. Those were to provide financial assistance to individuals in obtaining needed vision care including eye exams; to provide for eye related medical procedures; to provide preventative screenings; and to provide eye glasses in cases of confirmed financial need where other sources of assistance had been exhausted or were unavailable.  In every case, the Foundation goal was and is to give individual Lion clubs in the District the first opportunity to provide vision services to their local community and service area and not usurp any club's territory or interfere with its projects.  The Foundation offers clubs assistance in handling requests that an individual Lions Club cannot handle but wants to honor. Assistance from the Eye Care Foundation can be provided to clubs to help with complicated requests.

As for preventative screenings, the Lions are very active in adult glaucoma screenings, grade school vision screenings and the start of the KidSight Project in the spring of 2004.   In 2003, a few Lions were introduced to the “photoscreener” through an associate of the Medical Advisor for the MELVIN JONES DISTRICT 13-D LIONS EYE CARE FOUNDATION.  That winter, a group of volunteers were provided training on how to administer a strong and effective vision-screening program, at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital with the Tennessee Lions Eye Center.  In the spring of 2004, a screening program was introduced and started with about 75 children at three locations that year.  Lions Clubs in District 13-D are now screening over 500 children in numerous locations throughout the Stark, Mahoning and Columbiana Counties. 

If you are interested or know of a location that would like to have a vision screening, contact the Hartville Lions Club or the MELVIN JONES DISTRICT 13-D LIONS EYE CARE FOUNDATION. 

**DISTRICT 13-D is comprised of the Lion Clubs of Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Stark and Portage Counties.