The leaves have started falling and as Halloween fast approaches, members of the Altus Lions Club have decided to don their scariest attire and start a hunt for donations of money AND used eyeglasses for local residents during their new project “Trick or Treat for Sight.”

It won’t be the Lions prowling the streets of Jackson County though, but local children as the local Altus Lions Club will be sponsoring a contest to see which school; youth organization and/or individual can collect the most money and used eyeglasses to assist the Lions with its sight projects.

Cash prizes will be donated by local eye doctors who will award the top individual or group who collects the most.

On Oct. 31 the Altus Lions are asking the local communities to help with this special sight project to help furnish eye exams and eyeglasses for Jackson County residents who cannot afford them. Fundraisers from the local club make possible these purchases. “Unfortunately the need is great, but the funds are minimal and only allow our club to purchase at the most one pair a month,” President Dianna Thompson said. “We have a huge backlog of individuals who truly need glasses—from children to senior citizens, but we just don’t have the funds to help them out right now, and that is why we have decided to ask our Jackson County communities to help us out by donating whatever they can to help us buy glasses for the needy of our area. Every dime collected during our ‘Trick or Treat for Sight’ will go toward eyeglasses and exams for Jackson County residents. We would love to be able to fill every application we have, but we need the support and donations of our great communities to make this happen.”

Also, the Altus Lions are asking people of our county to look through drawers and closets for old, unwanted eyeglasses and donate them to the Lions Recycle for Sight program. The collection of used prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses are part of a unique recycling program throughout the United States and Canada. The glasses are sent to one of ten Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centers where they will be cleaned, categorized by prescription and prepared for distribution by Lions and other groups, then sent to third world countries for eye doctors to give out.

Children will be collecting eyeglasses and donations until Oct. 31 when collections will be turned in by the children at the main collection point in the Wal-Mart parking lot at the Lions Mobile Health Screening Unit that will be in Altus that day. (An alternate collection point will be at the Grace United Methodist Church during their annual “Trunks for Treats” event on Halloween.) Note: Watch for the early ‘trick or treaters for sight’ children and be prepared to make your donation.