giving day, Giving Day, Lions Vision Services

Give the Gift of Sight on May 2, 2023!

32-S

Give to Midlands Gives

32-C

Give to Palmetto Giving Day

Help us create an Emergency Eye Care Fund this May with a gift to LVS!

Our sight is absolutely essential to who we are and how we live our lives. When we lose our sight, we lose an essential medical service. Of the many eye surgeries LVS provides, retina, glaucoma, and trauma-related surgeries are the most urgent and sometimes the most costly. Each day, each hour, these surgeries are delayed costs our clients permanent vision loss.

The number of retina and glaucoma surgeries requested through our Affordable Eye Surgery Program continue to grow, as the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma increase across the state (72% and 100%, respectively). Often, grant funding is insufficient to meet the urgent and unpredictable demand for these services. But your gift can make the difference!

This year LVS aims to create an Emergency Eye Care Fund specifically for these urgent services by raising $50,000. We have created two campaigns to help us achieve this: Palmetto Giving Day (for District 32-C) and Midlands Gives (for District 32-S).

Each campaign has a goal of $25,000 on May 2nd and each has a matching gift to double the impact of your support. Read the criteria below to help us meet each of these matches.

The District that raises the most on Giving Day will unlock the Coastal Carolina National Bank Challenge Gift! This Challenge Gift will be used to provide $1,500 in LVS services in the winning District. Prizes are also available during Midlands Gives. Read the criteria for these prizes carefully and plan your gift now to help us win one.

Your gift can answer the timely call to respond to these services with care, compassion, and confidence. Help us give the gift of sight on May 2nd!

Double Your Donation with a Matching Gift

Matching Gifts double the impact of your gift. When you give, you unlock these matching gifts with every dollar donated!

Lion Barbara Harter Rippy has provided a $10,000 matching gift for Midlands Gives, the Pawleys Island Lions Club has provided a $5,000 matching gift for Palmetto Giving Day, and the Tamsberg Family Foundation is offering a $2,500 matching gift for Palmetto Giving Day.

You must give online on your District giving platform (only Midlands Gives or Palmetto Giving Day) to help us meet these matches!

Help LVS Secure a Midlands Gives Prize

During Midlands Gives, contributions of just $10 or more are amplified through sponsored prize incentives thanks to the Community Foundation’s In Good Company Network made up of charitably-minded, local businesses.

Help LVS secure prizes by planning your Midlands Gives gift now:

Aflac Power Hour ($2,000) – Most unique donors between 10:00 AM and 10:59 AM.

Schmoyer and Company Get Up and Give Prize ($2,000) – Highest number of unique donors from 6am – 10am on May 2.

Synovus Bank Midday Connection Prize ($800) – The nonprofit that receives the first gift of the tenth hour of Midlands Gives (3:00 PM, May 2).

South State Bank Hashtag Frenzy ($1,000) – Share your support of LVS on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with the hashtag #MidlandsGives and/or #InvestForImpact. Winners are randomly selected, so the more posts the better!

Coastal Carolina National Bank Challenge Gift

CCNB is supporting the LVS Giving Day by providing a $1,500 Challenge Gift. The challenge is simple: the Lions Club District that raises the most money during the Giving Day Campaign will unlock the gift! The winning District will receive $1,500 in LVS services provided in their District, above and beyond what had been planned for the year.

CCNB is making this expansion of services possible by encouraging giving to LVS during the Giving Day campaign. Give online on May 2nd to help your District win the challenge!

Why This Work Matters

Client Testimonial: Barbara of Clinton, SC

Eye Surgery: Glaucoma

On Monday, May 1, 2023 Barbara is taking the first step towards regaining her sight by obtaining a combined cataract and glaucoma surgery! Barbara is the sole caretaker for her disabled spouse. Despite this need for care, she has had to stop driving due to her vision loss and has felt very depressed.

The opportunity to have her sight restored through this surgery, in partnership with Southern Eye Associates, has given Barbara hope for getting her life back. Her loss of sight has been terrible.

In partnership with Servants for Sight, LVS is providing the time-sensitive glaucoma surgery Barbara needs and Servants for Sight is assisting with her cataract surgery. Together her life is transforming!

Eye Care Partner: Grand Strand Retina & Eye Physicians

One of our newest eye care partners is Grand Strand Retina, which is helping LVS provide time-sensitive retina surgeries for Horry County residents.

We appreciate our partnership with Lions Vision Services. They make a positive impact in our community and give our patients an opportunity to save, maintain, and improve their gift of sight. Retinal surgeries are extremely time sensitive and positive outcomes are based on urgent surgical procedures. Our patients and our practice are extremely thankful for the funding provided to those who cannot afford these urgent services that maintain their quality of life.

Megan E. Baughn

CFO, Practice Manager, COA, OCS

Client Testimonial: Sophia of Conway, SC

Eye Surgery: Retina

Earlier this year, Sophia was referred to LVS from Friendship Medical Clinic in Conway, SC. She was experiencing sudden vision loss due to a retinal hemorrhage caused by diabetes. This condition was exacerbated by the use of blood thinners after a recent heart attack.

Sophia couldn’t drive or work and was depressed at the thought that this vision loss was going to become her life because she did not have insurance. Just a few days before her surgery she lost the vision in her other eye. Now, since her surgery, she has returned to a normal life!

Full of gratitude, Sophia shared with LVS staff how easy the application process was and how the urgent surgery changed her life.