How to Give Old Glasses to the Needy

Everyone has a drawer full of old glasses. Every time you go to get a new pair, you just don't know what to do with the old pair so they go into a junk drawer somewhere. There are places to send your glasses so that they can be given to persons who need them but cannot otherwise afford them.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Old glasses
• Telephone book
• Internet access

1. Look up your local service organizations. The Lions Club, Rotary and high school Key Clubs many times take the glasses and even have drop off points throughout your city or town.
2. There is an organization, New Eyes for the Needy, located at 549 Millburn Avenue, Short Hills, NJ 07078, where you can send your old glasses. This organization gave over 100 thousand pairs of glasses to the needy around the world in 2007.
3. Go online and visit neweyesfortheneedy.org, which contains a lot of good information about the program (see Resources below for the link).
4. If you belong to a service organization, you can receive information from the website or by writing to them (Step 2) about starting a drop-off and pick-up location of your own. There are many persons out there with your questions about what to do with old glasses. You could turn this into a community event.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't worry if the glasses are scratched. These organizations have ways of getting the lenses fixed, frames repaired and stems replaced!