A state non-profit organization is seeking the public’s assistance in helping it obtain a grant from an anonymous donor.
The organization is the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation.
Partnership Director Sarah Epting Gardner said the organization is a part of the Lions Club.
“The Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation is an organization that was started by the Lions Clubs of Georgia in 1949 and we provide eyeglasses, eye surgeries, and hearing aids to 6,500 Georgians a year,” said Gardner.
Gardner said that the organization helped 80 residents in Stephens County alone last year. Statewide, more than 6,000 people have received assistance from this agency every year for the past six years.
Meanwhile, she said that an anonymous donor has offered the organization a $20,000 challenge grant if it raises a certain amount of money by the end of the year.
“We have an individual who is aware of the need and has said he is willing to donate $20,000 to the Lighthouse if we can raise $80,000 in individual donations this calendar year,” said Gardner. “We are now $15,000 away from that goal and we are looking to the communities we serve to reach that $15,000 goal.”
Gardner went on to say that the services the foundation provides offer an important service to low-income Georgians who may have no other way to receive assistance with vision or hearing problems.
“A lot of times someone will get cataract surgery and fall into a gap in the system, so they might be blinded by their cataracts and cannot go to work, but they do not qualify for disability because the condition is correctable, so they come to us and we help them get that cataract surgery,” said Gardner.
For more information, visit www.lionslighthouse.org or call 404-325-3630.