Special Olympics

SPECIAL OLYMPICS - OPENING EYES

UPDATE

We were able to screen about 1100 athletes and dispense 448 prescription eyeglasses and 650 sunglasses. It was a long week, but we did a lot of good and the Lions of Idaho-Eastern Oregon set a new record for the number of volunteers for any Special Olympics event. There will also be an article in a future edition of the Lions magazine.

Thank you,

Curt Kelley

February 20th, 2009 Program: Special Olympics Summary by Curt Kelley, Boise Bench Lions

Curt Kelley joined our meeting and gave a great overview of the activity that took place during Opening Eyes the week of the Special Olympics. Highlights of Curt's summary included some great pictures taken by a Meridian Noon Lions Club member and some general facts about the event:

Activity took place February 6 through the 13th, starting with the Opening Ceremony at the Idaho Center.
Approximately 2,100 athletes from 96 countries participated in the Games.
Volunteer numbers were estimated at 5,000!
There were 200 Lions who participated in the Opening Eyes screening. This is the most support the Special Olympics has ever had by the Lions.
About 1,100 athletes were screened.
During the week, 448 pairs of glasses were made for the athletes - most were done at the screening before the athletes left!
650 pairs of new sunglasses were provided to athletes.
One cornea transplant for a US athlete was done and funded by the Idaho Sight & Hearing Foundation.
One glaucoma referral was done. The Lions provided medication while the athlete was in the US. Follow up is being done to ensure medication is available in the athlete's home country.
96 hearing aids fro 51 athletes were handed out. 1,200 athletes went through hearing screening.
A new Special Olympics Lions Club was chartered and International President Al Brandel inducted its 26 members.

ONLINE VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION

Email from Curt Kelley:

Date: Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 4:25 PM

GOOD NEWS, we now have a system in place to handle our registration process!!!!

I will be submitting information to Special Olympics and you will not have to go through the registration process on line, however you will need to complete the Orientation on line. The Orientation should be completed by the end of September.

I will be submitting names, phone numbers, and address, date of birth, uniform size and e-mail addresses to Special Olympics. I will need your date of birth and uniform size, I should have everything else, if I don’t I’ll contact volunteers for the needed information.

The Opening Eyes schedule has six sessions as follows:

Sunday, February 8 through Thursday February 12 -4 PM to 9 PM

Friday, February 13- 11 AM to 5 PM

All of the screening will be done at Boise State at the Student Union Building, at this time no other locations will be used.

The orientation can be found on the Special Olympics website at:

http://www.2009worldgames.org/volunteer

About 2/3rds of the way down the page is a statement:

“Upon completing your volunteer application, you are required to complete a brief 10-15 minute online orientation. To complete your orientation, click here.”

All volunteers will click on this link, which will take them to the corresponding orientation. Please note that all Opening Eyes Volunteers will not be required to go through the online application process, as the template I will be sending in will replace this step.

Next Steps:

Complete the orientation as soon as you can,
E-mail me your Date of Birth, Uniform size and if you have a change of address, please send that also. E-mail idlionsopeneyes@mindspring.com
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to call me at 208-859-3642.. I look forward to working with you in 2009!

Curt Kelley
Lions Volunteer Coordinator for Opening Eyes
208 859 3642
Boise Bench Lions

BOISE HOST LIONS CLUB

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