EIGHT boxes of glasses have been handed over from Specsavers Ópticas Javea to Carole Saunders from Calpe & Benissa Lions Club, containing over 1,000 pairs of glasses. These glasses have been donated by customers over the last 12 months and are gifted to people without access to optical care via the Lions Club’s extensive global network.
Store director Cecilia Navarro comments, ‘We collect between 1,000 and 2,000 pairs of glasses for the Lions Club every year and have been doing so since 2006. It’s great that there are now more than 30,000 people with improved vision around the world thanks to our generous customers. In countries where optical care isn’t easily available, these glasses make the difference between being able to study and getting a job or not, so every pair is really precious.
Massive thanks to all our customers who bring their old glasses into our store when their prescription changes, or when they want to change their style of frames. We’d also encourage anyone with old specs hanging around in their house or car to drop them in and put them to good use. You can declutter and do good at the same time!’
Carole Saunders from Calpe & Benissa Lions Club commented, ‘These glasses will now be sent to the Melvin Jones Recycling Centre in San Vicente de Raspeig near Alicante. This centre is run by the Elche Lions, alongside members of the Alfaz del Pi Lions. Once the glasses have been checked, they are sent to other Lions Clubs all over the world. In the last six months, thousands of glasses have been sent to Venezuela, Honduras, Uganda and Morocco to name just a few and also to Romania for the Ukrainian refugees there. Every pair will be put to good use.’
All six Specsavers Ópticas stores on the Costa Blanca collect used and unwanted glasses to be donated to worthy causes. There are stores in Javea, Calpe, Benidorm, Torrevieja, Guardamar and La Zenia. Visit www.specsavers.es to find your nearest store.
The Calpe & Benissa Lions Club are busy fundraising and supporting a range of excellent causes in the area. This includes making monthly donations to buy food for local families in need via the charities Caritas and Cruz Roja in Benissa and Calpe. They funded Christmas gifts and organized a Christmas party for the disabled children of the Gargasindi College in Benissa, and have just bought six tables for the workshop in the Maite Boronat Day Centre for disabled adults. They also make annual donations to the Lions Training Centre for Guide Dogs in Chicago, which supply guide dogs for sight impaired people in Spain.
They are now working on two large fundraising events for Summer and Autumn. Their famous annual Fashion Show at El Toro Restaurant, Calpe will take place on the 7th of June. They will also be holding a fabulous outside concert in the gardens of Finca Jacarandi at the end of September. You can find out more about their activities on Facebook @calpebenissalions.
Cecilia Navarro & Maria Georgieva of Specsavers Ópticas Javea, with Carole Saunders, President of the Calpe & Benissa Lions Club
