Lions Club Trick-Or-Treats for Glasses Instead of Candy

Taylor Turner

​The end of October may mean a change of seasons, jack-o-lantern carving, trick-or-treaters and plenty of pumpkin pie, but for thousands of volunteers, it's also an opportunity to help provide the gift of sight to those in need.

Every year the Lion's Club designates Halloween night as Sight Night. Volunteers take to the streets in an effort to collect used eyeglasses. The used eyewear is then recycled by the Lions Club and its volunteers and then hand-delivered to those in need around the world. According to Lions Club International, this eyewear provides the opportunity for many to see clearly - some for the first time. Over the past ten years, more than 165,000 volunteers have collected more than 1 million pairs of eyeglasses.

High school student Demarquin Johnson participates annually in the collection drive. Demarquin says Sight Night is a fun service project that involves schools and other community service groups.

"Each year on Halloween, we encourage members of our chapter to participate in trick-or-treating for gently used eyeglasses on October 31," said Demarquin.

Complete pairs of prescription eyeglasses in all shapes and sizes for children and adults, as well as non-prescription sunglasses are collected. Demarquin encourages his friends to collect glasses from schools, places of worship, local businesses, recreation centers, senior citizen centers and lost and found collections at malls and movie theaters.

Halloween night - a night where four, six, and eight eyed creatures terrorizing the streets.