Article Body:
You might have heard of your local Lions club, but did you know that they’ve been integral to strides in eradicating blindness? The Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund, Inc. (MLERFI), established in 1953, is the largest funder of Massachusetts eye research, and if you join the Millis Lions on January 9, 2016 for its fifth annual “Crazy Bowling for Blindness” event, you could help make a difference. The Crazy Bowling for Blindness event is just $15 per person to bowl the whole night (6-9 p.m.) at Ryan Family Amusements, and it includes three strings of bowling and shoes. You can even put together a team (up to five members) and try your hand at crazy bowling styles including bowling with oven mitts, backwards and even lying down. The night will include a cash beer and wine bar, and, of course, two large-screen TV’s so you can have fun without missing your favorite game. It’s all good fun for a good cause, benefitting MLERFI.
“They’re the largest funder of cutting edge eye research in this area,” says Millis Lions President Debbie Hayes. MLERFI steps in when researchers have trouble getting funding.
In fact, when the Lions Clubs District 33 adopted MLERFI, it presented its first eye grant to Dr. Ingalls of Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ingalls was instrumental in determining that baby blindness was being caused by too much oxygen in the incubators of premature babies. The research led to the simple installation of a five-cent valve in the incubators to control oxygen flow. As a result, the disease known as blind baby disease was practically eradicated.
MLERFI awards over $1 million in grants annually, funded completely by donations. Over the years, it has funded $32 million in research, including, according to its website, www.mlerfi.org:
• the Ophthalmic Plastics Laboratory, which developed pure plastic corneas to be used for people afflicted with scarred corneas.
• the Joslin Clinic, which developed the “Lions laser Lens,” a device that can detect diabetes in the eye before any other physical signs appear.
• Tufts New England Medical Center, which developed radioactive isotopes to cure eye and brain tumors.
• Schepens Eye Research Institute (formerly known as the Retina Foundation), which constructed the first “upside down” operating table to repair detached retinas
• Boston University Medical Center, which conceived and developed the first photocoagulator ophthalmic laser and the first clinical specular microscope.
MLERFI has also helped to establish three major research centers in Boston: The Howe Laboratory at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, the Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Laboratory at Boston University Medical Center, and the Lions Laboratory for Genetic Research at Schepens Eye Research Institute.
According to Hayes, 100% of the money MLERFI receives goes to eye research institutions, and 100% of the proceeds from the January 9th bowling event will go to MLERFI. In addition to bowling, the night will include raffles. If you’d like to donate for one of the raffles, contact Debbie Hayes at (508) 816-6732. For more information about this event or the upcoming Super Bowl Breakfast on February 7, visit www.millislionsclub.org.