Lions for Sight’ raises $202,699 for cataract surgical equipment

Funds raised by 26 area Lions and Lioness Clubs will support up to 3,000 surgeries a year at Peterborough Regional Health Centre

By kawarthaNOW -

Published June 15, 2018

​

Representatives from area Lions and Lioness Clubs, the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation, and the PRHC Ophthalmology Group celebrate the success of the "Lions for Sight" campaign, which raised $202,669.68 for cataract surgical equipment at PRHC. (Photo courtesy of PRHC Foundation)

​

Representatives from “Lions for Sight” announced yesterday (June 14) that the campaign has raised $202,699.68 for cataract surgical equipment for Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).

​

“Lions for Sight” is a regional campaign supported by 26 Lions and Lioness Clubs from across the Kawarthas. The clubs combined their fundraising efforts from community-based projects, along with a grant of $88,149.68 from Lions Clubs International Foundation, and a $15,000 donation from the physicians who make up the PRHC Ophthalmology Group.

The clu

​

 

Lesley Heighway, PRHC Foundation President & CEO, says the campaign has funded a new state-of-the-art cataract surgical unit and camera for the cataract surgical program at PRHC, which performs as many as 3,000 surgeries a year.

“This enables PRHC’s medical experts to deliver improved results, offering even safer surgical procedures with less trauma to the eye and shorter recovery times,” she explains.

​

According to Fowlers Corners & District Lions Club Past President Carl Young, the project was conceived as a Lions International Centennial Community Legacy Project.

​

“For 100 years, Lions have been known for their service to the blind and visually impaired,” Young says. “We’re very pleased to join with clubs from across the region to support the technology that can help eliminate unnecessary blindness, changing lives for our loved ones, friends and neighbours whose vision is clouded by cataracts and for whom simple pleasures have become difficult if not impossible.”

The 26 Lions and Lioness Clubs from across the Kawarthas that contributed to the “Lions for Sight” campaign are:

​

Apsley & District Lions Club

Campbellford Lions Club

Chemung Lake District Lions Club

Coboconk and District Lions Club

Dunsford & District Lions Club

East Peterborough Lions Club

Fenelon Falls & District Lions Club

Fowlers Corners and District Lions Club

Haliburton & District Lions Club

Havelock Lions Club

Keene Lions Club

Kendal Lions Club

Kinmount & District Lions Club

Lakefield & District Lions Club

Lakefield Lioness Lions Club

Lindsay East & District Lions Club

Lioness Club of Campbellford

Marmora Crowe Valley Lions Club

Millbrook and District Lions Club

Minden & District Lions Club

Norwood & District Lions Club

Omemee and District Lions Club

Omemee Lioness Club

Peterborough Lioness Club

Peterborough Lions Club

Warsaw & District Lions Club

 

 

 

Haliburton Lion President David Mills and wife Lion Betty Mills attended the celebration of the success of our LIONS campaign to replace the cataract surgery equipment at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre. The goal was to raise $175,000.....look at cheque! The equipment is up and running making Lions true “Knights of the Blind”. Well done to all the clubs who donated. Many thanks to Lions Clubs International Foundation for their huge grant. Even the Ophthalmic Surgery department made a significant contribution. Lion David feeling mighty proud to be a Haliburton Lion!