ROAD TRIP TO NEW JERSEY

On Wednesday, November 17, Lion Jim and Lioness Becky Neidigh, Lion James and myself took a day road trip to the New Jersey Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center located in West Trenton, New Jersey. We arrived at Jim and Becky's home around 9:00AM. Jim was ready to empty his basement out of glasses. We filled the van full of boxed glasses; typed in our destination in the GPS and we were off. The majority of the way was on the PA and NJ Turnpike. We did have one detour, due to heavy wind damage at the local airport. A few small planes had overturned and there were metals pieces and insulation from roofs everywhere at the exit we were to get off. So taking the scenic route, we found the Katzenbach School for the Deaf with no problem. The Eyeglass Center is located on the school grounds in a large warehouse building. 1stVP Lion Al welcomed us, and along with a few other volunteers quickly unloaded our treasures. They were appreciative of the glasses as they were in need of "raw material" to work with in the coming days. Lion Al gave us the grand tour through the facility. Best to describe it is "Organized Chaos". Glasses to be sorted at one end, glasses to be washed, elsewhere, glasses to be categorized, glasses categorized, and finally glasses to be shipped out. The Center utilizes students from the school to help with some steps. They also take glasses to three prisons, for inmates to work on. This provides opportunity for many to gice back through community service. The Center is a state project of MD 16 New Jersey. Glasses are shipped primarily to Central America. They are in need of sunglasses because of the amount of sun in these countries. They also accept plain lens. They are matched up and placed in donated frames that companies no longer want. This was a great experience for all of us in learning the steps after glasses are collected. Thanks to Lion Jim for making the suggestion to me. It also provides Lions to continue to stay in control of the glasses. Each box shipped out is proudly stamped with the LIONS Logo. So continue to gather those glasses and perhaps, in the spring, another road trip, will be organized.