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Scout Sees A Way To Help

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

cpastor@tampatrib.com

Published: January 7, 2009

TAMPA - Sickles junior Jason McDade was looking for a service project to earn Eagle Scout status when his sister's old glasses caught his attention.

The discarded eyeglasses were stashed underneath the sink. He started to wonder whether they could be put to better use.

After about four months of research, promotions and a little crafting, McDade found himself with 533 pairs of glasses. They fill six boxes in his living room. He will donate them to the West Hillsboro Lions Club, which participates in Lions Club International eyeglasses recycling.

Used glasses get cleaned and classified by prescription and size and are distributed to the needy.

McDade, 16, thought the widespread reach of the donations would make it a good Eagle Scout project.

"Some don't have a lasting effect," McDade said. "I wanted to do something that was important."

The Lions Club's connection to visually and hearing impaired people dates back to at least 1925, when Helen Keller challenged the organization to become "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness."

The West Hillsboro branch gears a lot of its projects to children, as well. It recently hosted a Christmas party for visually impaired children, supports a camp for them and raises money regularly, said President Rosalyn Webb.

McDade's idea to partner with schools was a natural fit.

"That was a shoe-in," Webb said.

The club keeps drop boxes for eyeglasses donations around the area but gets most of the glasses from centers that offer laser surgery. People come out of the surgery and find they can see and ditch their glasses on the spot, Webb said.

For McDade's collection, he created cardboard bins to collect the glasses, cutting two openings on the top like lenses. He wrote fliers detailing his project and where the glasses would go and then contacted principals at the four elementary schools he attended: Lowry, Westchase, Citrus Park and Bryant, as well as Deer Park, a new school near his neighborhood.

He also decided to work with Sickles' National Honor Society, where he is an officer. Part of becoming an Eagle Scout is showing leadership skills.

"You can't just do it by yourself," McDade said. "It has to be something bigger than yourself."

The organization helped promote the glasses collection and awarded students who donated two pairs of glasses with an hour of volunteer time, an honor society requirement.

Most students hadn't heard that their old glasses could be put to use, McDade said, and were enthusiastic about participating.

He left the bins from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1 and could not believe the results.

"It's more than double what I expected," he said.

To qualify for Eagle Scout status, McDade had to research the project and submit a proposal. He has been logging his progress.

McDade, a member of Troop 46, started in Scouts at 7 as a Tiger Cub.

"Once I was in Scouts, I knew I wanted to carry it out to the end," McDade said.

His father, Joe, was impressed with his commitment, especially as Scouting got harder to fit in around academic and social demands. Only about 5 percent of Boy Scouts earn Eagle Scout rank, according to the Boy Scouts of America.

"It's quite a testament to being able to hang with it," Joe McDade said.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503.

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