Projects

State Projects

Bear Lake Camp – The camp aspires to provide a preeminent summer outdoor recreational/educational facility providing opportunities for children of special needs to enhance self-worth, attain independence, acquire social skills and realize their potential as human beings.

Leader Dogs for the Blind – Blind individuals may be sent by a Lions Club to Rochester where they will be provided room, board, a Leader Dog and training at no cost.

Lions of Michigan Service Foundation (LMF) – A 501(c)3 foundation for tax exempt donations to benefit medical needs of individuals through grants to local Lions Clubs. When the expense of medical assistance is greater than a local club can afford, a grant may be requested from the Foundation for part or all the expenses.

Michigan Eye-Bank – The Michigan Eye-Bank's mission is the restoration of sight. This is accomplished through recovery, evaluation and distribution of the highest quality eye tissue for transplantation and ophthalmic research, funding of peer-reviewed research grants to find cures for eye and vision disorders, provision of professional education to increase awareness of the continuing need for donation of eye tissue and supporting the continued development of domestic and international eye banking. Lions help spread the word for the Michigan Organ Donor Registry and Lions' donations provide funds for several critical eye research projects each year.

Welcome Homes Residential Services – Welcome Home is the premier provider of training, educational programs, services and resources to residential communities to improve the quality of life for the visually impaired. 

Joint District Projects

Michigan Braille Transcribing Fund – Braille text books are provided to all Michigan visually impaired students and individuals. In addition, products are sold worldwide for people. This project is joint with District 11-C2.

Radio Reading Services – An FM frequency is dedicated to special receivers which are provided to the blind and physically impaired. The station provides volunteers who read books, newspapers and periodicals for taping. The special receivers are provided free to qualified individuals. This project is joint with District 11-C2.

 

District Projects/Committees

Hearing & Speech – TDDs and other services are made available to the hearing impaired. This includes support of the Hearing Impaired Picnic, which is an all-day event, for the hearing impaired and their families. Games, lunch and a program are provided. Project KidSight is also supported through this fund. Children up to the age of five have the opportunity to have their eyes tested.

Michigan All-State Band – High school students are auditioned to represent Lions of Michigan at the International Convention annually. Students are given the opportunity to travel, march in the International Parade and perform at designated service facilities in the area of the convention.

Peace Poster Contest – The Peace Poster Contest is an international project that involves youth in designing and creating peace posters. Prizes are awarded at club, district, state and international levels for the best posters submitted. Participation requires a Peace Poster Kit which may be purchased from Lions International Club Supplies.

Penrickton Center for Blind Children – Penrickton is a unique, private non-profit agency, providing five-day residential services to blind, multi-disabled children ages one through 12. Each program is individually designed to promote independence in all aspects of daily living.

Used Eyeglass/Hearing Aids Collection – Used eyeglasses are collected, read, cleaned and available for volunteer groups going to deprived countries to serve the visually impaired. Hearing aids are cleaned, repaired and distributed to hearing impaired individuals.

Winter Camp for the Blind – A winter experience for the blind which includes many supervised outdoor activities. This is a three-day outdoor experience for the blind held at the Outdoor Center of the Battle Creek school system.

 

Club Projects 

Project Kidsight - This is a Lions' service project that utilizes an MTI Photoscreener (special camera) to screen the vision of very young or non-verbal children. Prior to the availability of this "special" camera, it was very difficult to effectively detect a potentially serious vision problem in very young children. Most children under the age of five are unable to reliably perform the accepted methods of proper vision screening. With the Photoscreener, a specially trained technician takes two quick pictures of a child's eyes. All that's required of the child is that they remain still and look at the camera for just a few seconds. Once the picture has been taken, the certified reader can analyze the picture to detect possible signs of a vision disorder, and make the appropriate referrals to an eye care professional.

 

2nd Annual Feasts for Families Project - Thank you to everyone that was able to donate food items for the 2009 Thanksgiving baskets. Five Ann Arbor families had a brighter holiday because of your willingness to give.