Statements
Mission
Tennessee Lions Charities' mission is to improve the lives of Tennessee's children through increased access to vision care. Through our KidSight Outreach vision screening program, we aim to ensure that children do not begin school with the disadvantage of an undiagnosed vision problem. KidSight Outreach provides early detection, professional referrals, and assured follow-up with the parents to ensure the child receives a professional eye examination. For over 25 years, our staff and trained volunteers have worked within local communities to bring KidSight Outreach to preschool-age children and address potentially unrecognized vision problems that could impede their educational, physical, and social development.
Background
Many children in Tennessee begin their educational journeys at a disadvantage due to unrecognized vision problems. Tennessee Lions Charities was incorporated in 1995 with the mission to improve the vision of preschool-age children. Our KidSight Outreach vision screening program was launched in 1997. Since then, we have worked with experts in Ophthalmology and vision screening technology to create a unique standard for preschool-age vision screenings.
For over 25 years, our KidSight Outreach vision screening program has provided free vision screenings for children in Tennessee ages 12-72 months. We aim to ensure that children with potential vision problems do not begin school with the disadvantage of an undiagnosed vision problem. Our program provides early detection, professional referrals, and assured follow-up by notifying the parents to ensure the child receives a professional eye examination. Our trained Lions Club volunteers conduct these essential screenings at no cost to the child or screening site. Screening sites include kindergartens, daycare centers, Head Start facilities, and other locations-we work to make our programs accessible and convenient, meeting kids where they are. KidSight Outreach vision screenings are non-invasive, no verbal response is required, and it maintains the highest child protection standards while simplifying the screening process. Our volunteers provide screenings in their local communities, and our staff processes the data from these screenings and notifies the schools and parents of their results within five business days. The parents of children referred for a potential vision problem receive a detailed packet that explains the screening process and possible vision issues while also helping parents find care in their community. Our staff follows up with parents three months after a screening to ensure the child has been examined. If a barrier to treatment exists - language, transportation, or financial - our staff assists to ensure the child receives treatment.
Through this program, we have provided free vision screenings to over 674,000 children in Tennessee - of these, more than 39,000 children have been referred for further examinations and treatment.
Impact
Tennessee requires only two screenings between kindergarten and 3rd grade. However, regular examinations, early identification, diagnosis, and accessible treatment of vision impairment are essential for long-term vision prognosis. Vision disorders that are not found and treated early can interfere with a child's development. As a result, children can fall behind in school, show behavior problems in the classroom, lag behind other children in school, and reach developmental milestones later in life.
Unfortunately, vision problems are widespread in the US-affecting nearly 5-10% of preschool children and 25% of children under the age of 6. Further, only 40% of these children have access to vision screening services. The American Academy of Ophthalmology reported that most people are visual learners, acquiring approximately 80-85% of all knowledge in the first 12 years of their lives through vision. Undetected and untreated vision problems can prevent the development of the brain's binocular function, resulting in Amblyopia or "lazy eye." Amblyopia is the leading cause of monocular blindness and a leading cause of vision impairment in Tennessee. Tennessee Lions Charities' KidSight Outreach vision screenings focus on Amblyopia which must be identified and treated as early as possible to prevent low vision and/or blindness.
Fortunately, nearly 50% of childhood blindness is preventable with timely screening, examination, diagnosis, and treatment. American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus recommend vision evaluation in newborns at 6 months /12 months, 1-3 years of age, 3-5 years, and beyond 5 years. While additional screenings are recommended at ages 8, 10, 12, and 15, early child vision screenings are essential to identifying, treating, and remediating vision impairment- particularly for Amblyopia, which is most effectively treated if identified early. Our KidSight Outreach program helps provide equitably accessible preventative screenings and next-step support for children in Tennessee.
In addition to reducing vision impairment within preschool-age children, Tennessee Lions Charities also works to improve access in communities lacking essential vision screening resources or addressing barriers to accessing available resources. We work to provide vision screening services where the children are-regardless of access to healthcare or level of income. Where referrals or treatment are beyond a family's resources, our staff will help these families make contact with their local Lions Clubs for additional support.
Tennessee Lions Charities is proud of our recent accomplishments in addressing this need in Tennessee. We have recently seen our number of referrals exceed 39,000. Last year, the mother of a child referred by our program asked to speak at our Lions Club State Convention so that she could share her thanks. After our follow-up with her, her son was found to have a tumor in his eye that had been unnoticed by his pediatrician's annual checkup. It was only through our KidSight Outreach program that the tumor was found in time to save his vision in the eye and possibly his life.
In addition to these program achievements, we are excited to announce that we have received initial funding for a new aspect of the program to increase awareness of the need for pediatric vision care. Our staff has created a children's story and activity book that will help teachers and parents understand our program and the impact it can have on a child's life.
Our goal for the upcoming year is to continue to build back our screening efforts after the pandemic. We will also hope to begin distribution of the children's story and activity book this year. Lastly, during the upcoming school year, we have set the goal to see our total number of children screened rise from 674,000 to 700,000.
Needs
Our program is lucky to have the strong foundation of Tennessee Lions supporting our KidSight Outreach vision screening program's efforts to screen the children of Tennessee. However, we still have needs as an organization that must be met to continue our current program and expand it in the future.
We are always in need of additional volunteers, especially those willing to reach out to the smaller communities in Tennessee. We would like to see increased participation in West Tennessee in the upcoming year. While Lions are our foundation, we would like to see our volunteers grow beyond just Lions. To continue to thrive as an organization, we must have support of the local communities beyond the Lions Clubs. We would like to see our clubs work with local businesses or organizations to host screenings or bring in new volunteers to participate in screenings.
Incorporating local businesses is also a way to establish financial support for our organization. Like all non-profits, we are always seeking funding to help our KidSight Outreach vision screening program grow. Our KidSight Outreach program is an excellent outlet for a business seeking to build its philanthropic activities beyond financial support. Employees can volunteer with us and see your donation in action.
CEO Statement
Vision problems affect one in 20 preschoolers and one in four school age children. Tennessee Lions Charities is committed to identifying for treatment children, ages 12 to 72 months, with low vision and potential blindness throughout the state of Tennessee. Lions Club volunteers, trained in procedures for using a specifically designed instrument, screen the eyes of children for Amblyopia, a major cause of low vision and blindness. We are the only agency whose findings are interpreted by medical professionals. Parents or guardians are notified of the results. Our follow-up coordinator contacts those who have not made appointments for eye care and assists in doing so. Efforts are made to ensure the child is seen by a vision care specialist. Volunteers are available to provide transportation if needed to eliminate any transportation barriers to access services. Screenings are no cost to the child or parent. A parent writes: "My two year old is in his third pair of glasses and second week of patching to treat Amblyopia. We are amazed that you accurately identified the problem at such an early age and stage, and that this was free of charge to us. Because of your program, our son will likely have a better start in school and life. Every time I throw a ball to him and his bat makes contact with the ball, I think of how grateful we are to you and your program." Therefore, financial assistance is our greatest need. The goal of Tennessee Lions Charities and our KidSight Outreach vision screening program is to improve the vision of preschool-age children. Our KidSight Outreach vision screenings provide early detection of potential vision problems which are treatable before a child enters kindergarten, removing an obstacle that could have hampered the early stages of their educational, social, and personal development.
Board Chair Statement
Lions have been a champion of low vision and blindness since Helen Keller delivered the inspirational speech at an International Convention changing the direction of Lionism forever; charging the Lions to 'constitute yourselves as Knights of the Blind in this crusade against darkness.' Tennessee Lions Charities was founded in 1995 to fund vision screening of young children. We learned the importance of identifying for treatment vision problems at an early age. A partnership was formed with Vanderbilt University, Dept. of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences; Tennessee Lions Eye Center was established, and a program implemented to identify for treatment children throughout Tennessee with potential vision problems. Trained volunteers conduct screenings in preschools, day care, kindergarten, Head Start and where children are supervised on a regular basis. We have referred over 39,000 children with the danger of potential vision problems, who when treated will begin school with healthy eyes. Our program is funded by grants from foundations, corporations, individuals and Lions Clubs.
Service Categories |
|
| Primary Category: | Diseases, Disorders & Medical Disciplines - Eye Diseases, Blindness & Vision Impairment |
| Secondary Category: | - |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
Our organization of volunteers provide vision screenings to Head Start programs, preschools, kindergarten programs, and day care facilities across the state of Tennessee.
| TN |
