i care USA in the News

Roger Cawthon, Denver
Helping a child see well made all the difference

Did an event or person change your life in a powerful way? Please describe what happened.
I provide eye care to the needy for the Lions Club of Denver and through Lions KidSight program we discovered that a 4-year-old boy needed glasses extremely badly. They had no means to purchase the glasses so the Lions Club provided the glasses at no charge. From the moment the boy put on the glasses he could see clearly and for the first time in his young life he could see his grandmother and the TV from a normal distance instead of pressing his nose to the screen. His life changed. He was able to see his school work and immediately improve his ability to learn and interact with his classmates to the extent that he socialized normally and was not disruptive and annoying to his teachers. He gained control of his surroundings for the first time in his life and can see how to make a difference in our society.

Specifically, how did that event or person change your outlook?
After 48 years in the optical business I see clearly that if we can make one person's life change for the better it's worth volunteering time, money and my own life's skills to make a life-changing difference in a 4-year-old boy that would have fallen through the cracks and would be seen in his formative years as a misfit. All he needed was to see properly and the Lions Club of Denver helped him do just that.

Is there something about today's times that makes this change especially relevant now? Tell us about that here.
Most of his learning difficulty was from birth. Mother was a cocaine and crack addict who remains in prison today. He is lucky to have a wonderful grandmother and to have the good fortune and luck to have been screened in pre-school by the Lions KidSight program that discovered his basic problem. He will have the opportunity to grow up normally and enter adult life as a good person and not a burden to our society.

What other stories would you like to see KCFR report on in connection with the holidays?
This one was enough. To see him when he first put the glasses on and he looked around and saw his granny for the very first time-WOW-not a dry eye in the house!!!