The Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey to Commemorate Lions Eye Bank Week

SPRINGFIELD - The Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey will commemorate Lions Eye Bank Week with an Open House on Saturday, December 3 at 1:00p.m. The Open House will be held at the Eye Bank, located in the New Jersey Sharing Network building at 841 Mountain Avenue in Springfield.

The event highlights the Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey's mission to recover eye tissue for transplantation, support eye and vision research, and provide public and professional education regarding eye, organ, and tissue donation and the New Jersey Donor Registry.

The Open House will also feature a presentation by Eileen Carrigg Specchio, R.N., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Nursing, College of St. Elizabeth, who will share her personal experience with donation as a donor mother, as well as her professional perspective as a nurse educator.

A tour of the facility and refreshments will follow the program. To attend this free program, RSVP at (800) 247-7250 ext. 175 by November 27, 2006.

In 1984, Lions Clubs International officially adopted the Lions Eye Bank Program. Today, Lions Clubs aid 60 Lions Eye Banks located in nine countries. The Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey partners with the New Jersey Sharing Network to serve individuals and their families who wish to give the gifts of sight and life through organ, tissue and eye donation.

The Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey is a subsidiary of Midwest Eye-Banks, a 501(c)(3), independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the restoration of sight. Throught its facility in Springfield, the Eye Bank recovers, evaluates and distributes human eye tissue for transplantation. It also supports preliminary research into the causes and cures of blinding eye conditions, and promotes eye, organ and tissue donation through public and professional education programs. For more information, contact Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey at (800) 653-9379 or visit www.lionseyebanknj.org.