Share the Vision

February 2023

Florida Lions Eye Clinic

Monthly Newsletter

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What a fabulous morning at Meet The Kids Day on 2/3/23, meeting so many amazing people who help kids get the services they need! Thank you to Naples Children & Education Foundation - Naples Winter Wine Festival for a great event! Proud to partner with Lighthouse of Collier, Inc. & Bascom Palmer Eye Institute to represent the Vision Initiative!

What a great evening on 1/24/23, meeting local business and hearing about Friends of BERT: Bonita Estero Rail Trail! Collaborating with your community is so important and the Florida Lions Eye Clinic is proud to be a member of the Bonita Springs Downtown Alliance!

Community Volunteer Expo

What a great afternoon participating in the Women's Cultural Alliance 2023 Community Volunteer Expo at Jewish Federation of Greater Naples! It was so nice connecting with many SWFL residents who were just learning about FLLEC for the first time, and to see their excitement for what we do in our community was truly motivating! Thank you to the WCA for including us in your expo at the beautiful, brand-new Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center in Naples! We look forward to next year!

FEBRUARY IS NATIONAL HEART HEALTH MONTH

DID YOU KNOW THAT EARLY SIGNS OF HEART DISEASE APPEAR IN THE EYES?

"Eye doctors may be able to detect signs of heart disease during a comprehensive eye exam, experts say. A new study finds that people with heart disease tend to have retinas marked by evidence of eye stroke.

Eye strokes happen when the eye is deprived of blood flow and oxygen, causing cells to die. This creates a mark, called a retinal ischemic perivascular lesion. These marks can be spotted when ophthalmologists use an imaging tool called optical coherence tomography, or OCT, to take a close look at the retina."

Continue reading here:

eye-stroke-heart-disease-vision-exam

Stress Free!

Matthew discovered just how costly it is to see an Optometrist and Retina Specialist with no insurance, when the vision in his left eye became very blurry and his right eye followed soon after.

Before the stress consumed him about needing over $1100 to find help in restoring his vision, he spoke with someone at the Retina Specialist's office who mentioned a place in Miami and the Florida Lions Eye Clinic. Being that we were close to home, he made an appointment and received necessary shots of medicine in his eyes to help his vision. A month later he was back in our office following up and shared that his stress is gone, and his vision is much better.

His original loss of vision was having a negative effect on his work, as he is a forklift operator and needs to see to do his job safely. Matthew was grateful to say his vision is getting better day by day and appreciates what the Clinic has done for him. Without FLLEC, he would have had to postpone restoring his sight because of the financial burden. We are so fortunate to help patients restore their vision to get back to their daily lives in large part due to the generosity of our donors.

We are so proud to partner with Neighborhood Health Clinic in Naples to serve our community. Monday, January 23rd was our very 1st day seeing patients at our new satellite location at Neighborhood Health Clinic in Naples! What an honor to have one of our Founding Physicians, Dr. Shapiro, and his wife Anita, there today, along with our Clinic Operations Manager, Olivia! This is a super proud moment for Florida Lions Eye Clinic!

How exciting is this?!

Our billboard went up! Keep your EYES peeled while driving down Bonita Beach Road! This is all thanks to Carter for donating the billboard space, our Director of Development & Marketing, Miranda, for the design, and our Visionary Sponsors, Dr. Howard & Pamela Freedman, for covering the production cost of the billboard as part of their top clinic sponsorship for VISION FEST: Cruisin' for the Clinic!

We are so excited to reach more patients, donors and volunteers... and we couldn't do it without our amazing support system!

Eye Angel Award Recipient

Florida Lions Foundation for the Blind

December 2022

We were honored to present the final 2022 Eye Angel Award to the Florida Lions Foundation for the Blind in December. We are so fortunate to have a special partnership with them!

We work closely with Dr. Norma Callahan, MD-35 Project Chair, ensuring many patients receive life changing, necessary eye surgeries thanks to the foundation! Their mission is to provide sight care surgery to needy individuals through Lions Clubs of Florida and the Bahamas.

To learn more please click here.

Thank you to the Florida Lions Foundation for the Blind for helping us Share the Vision and being amazing Eye Angels to our patients!

Do you live in a community that actively volunteers in the area?

Are you part of a group or organization that needs service hours?

Call FLLEC today to partner up today!

We have a need for volunteer Spanish-English translators, Administrative Assistants, Medical/Clinic Assistants, Ophthalmic Assistants, Ophthalmologists, Retina, and Glaucoma specialists.

If you are interested in helping us meet the needs of our underserved neighbors or if you know someone who might be willing to help, please reach out to our Clinic Supervisor, Olivia Pena.

Please click here to download the volunteer form, and return it to Olivia at oliviap@fllec.com or call 239-202-0757 for more information!

Thank you for your help!

EASY SIGN UP HERE!