Lions Club tests eyes of young children

Barbara Corsaro was so impressed by a presentation on amblyopia vision screening at a conference 17 years ago that she brought it back to the West Milford Lions Club, hoping members would consider offering the service locally.

“Having spent 22 years as a Township of West Milford school teacher, primary-grade students are near and dear to my heart,” she said. “I approached the West Milford Lions Club, of which I am a member, about purchasing a screener and taking an active part in this program by bringing it to our local students.”

A Welch/Allyn Vision Screener, which is used in West Milford, gives a numerical reading of a child’s eyes, indicating if the numbers are in range. It also detects possible issues, such as amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (crossed eyes), hyperopia (farsightedness), anisometropia (different refractive power in the two eyes), anisocoria (unequal pupil size), myopia (nearsightedness) and astigmatism (inperfection in the curvature of the eye).

Once parents sign a permission form, children may be screened at their school. The child sits about three feet from a trained Lions Club volunteer, who takes the photo. The results are printed on a special label and the information goes to an eye doctor for review.

“We are pleased and very grateful to Dr. Eric Shnayder, ophthalmologist in Kinnelon, for volunteering many hours to read our results,” said Corsaro. “If a problem is detected, he will contact the parent. Should the family be unable to afford the cost of the exam and glasses for the child, our Lions Club will provide assistance.”

The testing is aimed at pre-kindergarten and first-grade students because problems often can be detected at that age, Corsaro said.

“Our program has grown, and we now screen over 1,000 children per year,” she said. “The school districts we go to are West Milford, Kinnelon, Butler, Jefferson, Ringwood, Pequannock, Hamburg, a private school in Sparta and four Head Start programs in Passaic County. We thank all these districts for allowing us to provide this free-of-charge service to our students of North Jersey.

Since the Lions Club brought the program to West Milford, other Lions Clubs in North Jersey have taken on the project in other towns.

Lions International is a worldwide organization that raises funds and provides aid to those in need of help. Among the many areas where assistance is given are blindness, hurricane relief and juvenile diabetes.

There are more than 4 million Lions Club members in more than 215 countries.

For information about the West Milford Lions Club, send email to Barbcorsaro@yahoo.com