Holliston Lions Club: Fighting Preventable Blindness
In the summer of 1950 E. Daniel Johnson, District Governor 33N, had a visit from a friend on his farm in Lyndeboro, New Hampshire. This friend brought his four-year-old blind son, a so-called ‘blind baby’ or ‘retrolental fibroplasic’ baby, with him. The cause was unknown; the child was apparently blind at birth. In talking of this with Harry Hartford, then District Governor of District 33K (of which Holliston was then a part of), Lion Johnson found that Harry had a friend, Al Hirshberg, who had a blind baby that was born on the day that Al landed in France, D-Day 1944.
In October of 1950, they and a small group of Lions had lunch with Al Hirshberg (Sports Writer for the Boston Post and Chairman of the Foundation for Eye Research) and Dr. Edwin B. Dunphy (Professor, Harvard Medical School and Chief of Staff, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary). This small assembly of Lions was told of the existence of a new disease, first discovered in Massachusetts in 1941 by a Dr. Terry. Physicians knew this disease as “Retrolental Fibroplasia”.
This disease was not only baffling, but also discouraging because no funds were available to attempt to discover its cause. The Lions of Massachusetts were asked to try to do something to help the medical profession in raising funds to combat this terrible disease which was afflicting four out of five premature babies weighing four pounds or less.
This story was so amazing that the Lions asked Al to write a pamphlet, telling this story that they could carry to the Lions Clubs throughout Massachusetts. Dr. Dunphy edited this pamphlet and Lion Johnson had several thousand copies printed and mailed to all Lions in Massachusetts and to all District Governors in the United States and Canada at his own expense. In 1952 Eye Research was voted to be the official project of the Massachusetts Multiple District 33 Lions. The program was called Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund, Inc. (MLERF) and remains the only approved charity on a state-wide level owned wholly by the Lions of Massachusetts. As with all of the funds raised by Lions, all donations are awarded to worthy institutions.
From its beginning through the end of the Lions Fiscal year in 2018, MLERF has made grant awards in the amount of: $32,759,645.30. Clubs across Massachusetts continue to support this fund and over the years, the Holliston Lions Club has contributed nearly $300,000. This is only possible because of the continued support of those in our community. These funds are raised during our White Cane Day, our Carnival, and other fundraising activities. There are no words to express how much we appreciate the support of this community and how important your donations are to our long-term goal of eradicating preventable blindness.
In our next installment we will discuss the history of District 33K Eyemobile, our self-contained eye and health screening unit which can help identify early signs of potential blindness. You can learn more about the Holliston Lions Club on our website.
Image credits:
Blindness Image is Creative Commons ImageCreator Original Author: Nick Youngson
MLERF Logo Licensed to Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund, Inc.