By MIKE FEDERMAN of the East Oregonian
eastoregonian.com/front page/10-22-99
PENDLETON - An eyeglasses recycling program sponsored by the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation will give vocational opportunities to women prison inmates.
The Lions delivered more than 18,000 pairs of used eyeglasses to Pendleton Wednesday that will be cleaned, read for prescription and repackaged by woman inmates housed in the H-Unit of the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution.
The reconditioned glasses are destined for Third-World countries around the globe.
The Portland-based Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation was established in 1959. Corporate executive officer Scott Maguire said the foundation recycles an average of 250,000 pairs of donated eyeglasses each year.
The foundation has numerous supporters, including Safeway stores, which uses its Clackamas distribution center as a delivery point for glasses picked up from all over the state.
"It's a pretty cool network," Maguire said.
Lions members form teams that visit countries with high levels of poverty and have delivered used eyeglasses to countries in Central and South America, Africa, Vietnam and the Ukraine.
Oregon eyeglasses were being sent to San Quienton prison in California for cleaning and repackaging, but when that facility needed more room to house a larger inmate population, the program was dropped and the Sight & Hearing Foundation was forced to look elsewhere.
Oregon Department of Corrections work force development director Ann Kniesel discovered the Sight & Hearing Foundation while browsing the Internet and figured it would offer work program opportunities for prison inmates in Pendleton.
The voter-approved Measure 17 requires prison inmates to work a 40-hour week and EOCI has bumped up its work program participation by 00 percent over the past year.
The DOC has purchased four lensometers, a device that reads the prescription of glasses, for the program. The Lions are donating a fifth lensometer and an ultrasonic lens cleaner.
"We're always concerned about using harsh chemicals and this program uses nothing stronger than a glass-cleaning solution," said EOCI Superintendent Jean Hill. "This is a wonderful public service. It let's the women feel like they're giving something back to the community. They also learn skills that give them the potential for employment once they leave prison. They're always interested in that."