Lions Club breakfast will raise funds for testing

Amherst Lions Club secretary Sheila A. Jones uses a Medical Technology Inc. camera to check Amherst resident Aly Schoenfeldt's eyes. This free service will be offered for children attending the Lions Club pancake breakfast on March 24.

The Amherst Lions Club will hold a pancake breakfast, silent raffle, and a book and plant sale from 8:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 24 in Christ United Methodist Church, 350 Saratoga Road.

The event will raise funds primarily for the Lions Diagnostic Center in the Ira G. Ross Eye Institute on Main Street in Buffalo.

Martin Bauer, chairman for the breakfast, said the Lions hopes to raise $5,000 for the diagnostic center and other services to the blind and visually impaired.

"Support from community-minded sponsors has been very strong, and I am looking for a large turnout of area residents for a good breakfast for a good price for a good cause," he said.

The breakfast will include three pancakes, three sausages, coffee, juice and milk. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3.50 for children ages 12 and under.

There will be more than 20 baskets of items for the silent auction and hundreds of books for sale, as well as a variety of plants.

In addition to the various sale items, the club will also be staging a health fair, including free vision screening for young children, chiropractic explanations, and information on diabetes and nutrition. Club secretary Sheila Jones, who helps out with many of the vision screening tests with the Lions' MTI camera, noted that one recent screening found a 3-year-old child who was completely blind in one eye and her parents didn't know it. They took the child to an ophthalmologist, and the doctor said the early detection will enable him to save the child's other eye.

The Lions Diagnostic Center at the Ross Institute will provide cutting-edge technology for diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases, as well as supporting research and education, rehabilitation and low-vision training, with free services for the indigent, human service volunteers, community outreach, eye screenings and assistance to other agencies.

The Ross Institute is a partnership of the University at Buffalo, the Olmsted Center for the Visually Impaired, and the Lions and will be located next to the Olmsted Center at 1170 Main St.

Anyone interested in joining the Amherst Lions and working to help the blind can call 636-5798.