OSKALOOSA LIONS GRANTED 400 BOOKS FOR LITERACY PROGRAM

Lions Club

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Oskaloosa Lions Club received notice at the end of August that the club approved for a grant to receive 400 children’s books from FirstBook. As part of International President Wayne Madden’s Reading Access Program, Oskaloosa Lions plan on distributing the books to children during the club’s ongoing KidSight preschool vision screening program.

Under the grant, publishers provide books to FirstBook to distribute to children in need. These new books include titles appropriate to children ages 0-6 years old, titles like “Good Night, Moon,” “Put Me In A Zoo: A Book of Colors” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Oskaloosa Lions will receive the books by the end of September, in time for distribution to children having a KidSight vision screening at the Kidtoberfest Celebration at Penn Central Mall in October.

KidSight screenings are free. The Oskaloosa Lions Club does two public screenings each year, at the Southern Iowa Fair and at Kidtoberfest, along with additional screenings at day cares and preschools around Mahaska County. The vision screenings are designed for children ages 6 months to 48 months old, though the Lions Club will screen up to 5 years old. During the KidSight event, trained Lions screeners take a photograph of the child’s eyes. That photo is then sent to the University of Iowa Ophthalmology Clinic, where doctors access the photos to determine if the child may have vision problems that require further screening. KidSight screenings do require a release form to be signed by a parent or legal guardian.

Mahaska County day cares and preschools that would like to schedule a KidSight screening with the Oskaloosa Lions Club may call KidSight Chairperson Leslie Nuehring at 641-660-3855.