Lions provide free eye screening

Christine Turner of Bridgeton was grocery shopping with her three children Wednesday afternoon when she saw the North Carolina Lions Foundation free eye-screening bus in the parking lot of Merci Clinic.

Turner works in a sandwich shop and doesn't have insurance. Her husband, Christopher, recently started a new job at a retail store and isn't covered either.

Turner, 29, knows she has eye problems. She wore a patch for a year  when she was a 16-year-old and had glasses until she was 21 and couldn't afford them anymore. She had trouble passing the eye exam the last time she had her driver's license renewed.

She spent more than a half hour in the  Lions' bus, where club members conduct basic screenings on participants.

She emerged glad she had stopped in.

"I definitely need to see an eye doctor," she said. "They (Lions) said they might can help."

"We will help her," said Lion volunteer Bobbi Fisher. "Having an eye exam should be one of the most important medical priorities. If people will get an exam, the Lions can help. Lions  have been doing that since 1917."

Fisher said Turner and other referrals must go through a short follow-up interview to see if they qualify for any state medical assistance. If not, then the Lions step in, and provide a free referral through doctors Shawn Doty and Jay Singleton, and optician Phil White.

Fisher said the Lions hope to get even more area eye professionals to help their program.

The Wednesday stop in New Bern provided 83 free screenings.

The Lions bus is sponsored by Lions clubs throughout North Carolina, including New Bern Lions and Twin Rivers Lions. Both clubs had volunteers on hand Wednesday.

The bus, which is called the 21st Century Vision Van, will make another stop,  from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., today at the Food Lion Parking lot in Grantsboro.

The 40-foot van is based out of the Lions' Camp Dogwood near Hickory. Since its inception in 1999, nearly 80,000 people have had free screenings, along with 71,000 students at school screenings.