Ok Lions Meadows of Hope/ Ok Lions Eye Bank

Oklahoma Lions Meadows of Hope and Ok Lions Eye Bank 

The Meadows of Hope-a Project of the Oklahoma Lions Boys Ranch strives to serve the foster care children of Oklahoma that have suffered from abuse and/or neglect. These children are placed with a foster care family and given a chance to have a childhood and a future. Placing children with siblings together makes a significant difference by providing a family atmosphere in a safe environment. There are five (5) homes currently on the campus in Perkins Oklahoma and several other supported families off campus. Our goal is to help give these children a future and hope through loving foster care families. OLBR Meadows of Hope comes along side and supports these families with the necessary counseling and items these children so desperately need.
We are excited to announce a matching grant opportunity for direct service from the Lion Paul Milburn estate. This matching amount can be up to $250K per year based on how much the Lions of Oklahoma raise. This is specifically for direct support for these families so we are encouraging everyone to consider a gift that will impact a child's life and double immediately! Please visit the OLBR/ MOH website for more information and volunteer today!
The OLEB was established in 1957 and is Oklahoma's only dedicated tissue recovery organization with the sole purpose of recovering corneal tissue and restoring sight through transplantation. Since the establishment of the Oklahoma Lions Eye Bank, over 25,000 corneas have been donated resulting in approximately 21,000 successful corneal transplant surgeries. Corneas that are not suitable for transplant are used for additional eye procedures or for ocular research. Eye Bank Technicians are certified by the EBAA and attend educational sessions at national EBAA conventions annually, as well as complete Continuing Education on a yearly basis. The Eye Bank, itself, is inspected and recertified every three years by EBAA.
Oklahoma Lions have been instrumental in the restoration of eye sight since their inception and now with the Lions Clubs International Foundation matching grant of $75,000 we are able to increase our services with better technology. Lions Clubs and individual Lions met the matching grant of $75,000 to bring in a new Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty DSEK) machine for a Suture-less Corneal Transplant.
DSEK is a corneal transplant technique where the unhealthy, diseased, posterior portion of a patient’s cornea is removed and replaced with healthy donor tissue obtained from the eye bank. Unlike traditional corneal transplant surgery known as penetrating keratoplasty (PKP), the DSEK procedure utilizes a much smaller surgical incision and requires few to no corneal sutures. This usually results in more rapid visual rehabilitation for the DSEK patient. With this process now in construction the OLEB will have a "Clean Room" in the lab with trained staff to cut the corneas for use.
With the support of all Oklahoma Lions many will have received the gift of sight. Maybe someday we will live in a world where blindness does not exist!
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