Press release

Kaylan Johnson, Administrative Assistant and Fiscal Specialist for First 5 Mono County, recently coordinated the conduct of several Health & Safety Fairs in Mammoth Lakes, Lee Vining, Bridgeport, Benton and Coleville.

lionsvision

Invited to take part were the Lions Clubs from Mammoth Lakes and Bishop, who screened the vision of young children and adults attending those health fairs.  Also invited to take part were other social service and community service agencies including the Eastern Sierra Unified School District (ESUSD), First 5 Mono, Safe Kids Mono Partners, State Farm Insurance, Community Service Solutions, CA Highway Patrol, Mono County Behavioral Health, Mono County Social Services, Mono County Public Health, Mono County WIC Program, Mono County Library, Mono County Sheriff’s Department, and the Mammoth Lakes Police Department.

Stan Smith Lions

Ms. Johnson reported 26 attendees in Lee Vining on March 19th with 6 vision screenings; same day attendance in Bridgeport saw 41 attendees and 21 vision screenings including 3 in the 0 to 5 year age category and the balance were older students; March 20th had 14 attendees and 4 vision screenings; March 26th in Walker-Coleville had 27 attendees with no vision screenings; Kindergarten Round Up at Mammoth Elementary on March 14th reported 3 vision screenings.

A future Health & Safety Fair will be held June 9th at Shady Rest in Mammoth Lakes , 10am to 1pm.

Shown above screening vision in Bridgeport is Mammoth Lakes Lion and 2017-2018 Club President Jeff Mitchell, holding the highly-compact screening camera which is used in tandem with a wireless printer to produce a summary hand-out for the subject of the screening.

In this case parents signed a permission form for the youngsters to be screened and the print-outs are used to preliminarily identify vision condition and early signs of possible problems which should come to the attention of a vision specialist.  Assisting Lion Mitchell in Bridgeport was fellow Lion Eric Olson.

Also shown above are Bishop Lions Barbara Smith and Stan Smith, who conducted the vision screenings in Benton.  The Lion Club participation in last year’s and this year’s health fairs with First 5 and Mono County was coordinated by Bishop Lion Mike Johnston.

It is hoped that these communities will recognize the value of the health fairs and most importantly see that early vision screenings for youngsters may help prevent developmental and education issues later in the student’s life.  In the instance of Walker-Coleville, Bridgeport and Lee Vining which all previously had active Lions Clubs, if the interest exists to regenerate a Lion Club or a branch Lion Club to continue community service projects, please contact the Mammoth Lakes or Bishop Lions Clubs for further information regarding the procedure to obtain sponsorship.

The Mammoth Lakes Lions and the Bishop Lions can be contacted for more information on the international scope of vision and hearing and diabetes awareness programs conducted by local Lions clubs.  Mammoth Lakes President Jeff Mitchell can be reached at 760-937-4168 and [email protected].  The Bishop Lions Club’s Mike Johnston can be reached at 760-937-6663 and [email protected].

 

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