The Nebraska Lions Foundation Mobile Screening unit recently visited two area schools- Immanuel Lutheran and Saint Agnes to conduct hearing and vision testing for students.
A total of 160 students were tested at the two schools on Oct. 19.
The Nebraska Lions Foundation’s (NLF) Mobile Screening Unit (MSU) program will screen about 40,000 students in 253 schools this year.
There are two screening units, one full time and one part time. The school screening year begins in mid-August and runs through March each year.
As of Oct. 21, the units have already visited 96 schools in 64 scheduled visits. 14,828 students and 50 adults have been screened resulting in 1,763 student vision referrals (11.9%) and 985 student hearing referrals (10.5%).
The Mobile Screening Unit services began in 1987 and has grown in 35 years to include School Health, Public Health and OSHA/Corporate screenings. Over 95% of all screenings are performed in Nebraska public and private schools.
The month of September 2022 was the busiest school screening month in the NLF MSU’s history. In September alone 7,357 students were screened in 48 schools.
In 2017 the NLF MSU Committee challenged newly hired Program Manager/Operator Allen Darell to take the screening unit program to a higher level. At that time about 125 schools were being served screening 29,000 students. Now the program screens over 38,000 in over 240 schools each year.
The NLF MSU Program is supported by fees charged to local Lions clubs, subsidized by donations to the Nebraska Lions Foundation and is partially funded through a partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska.
Lions Club members Allen Darell, a Past Council Chair, and Steve Steward, a Past District Governor are the unit operator-managers. Together they travel over 30,000 miles across Nebraska each year. Lion Steward began serving with Lion Darell in 2020 during the COVID pandemic.
The Nebraska Lions Foundation is renowned for their service work across Nebraska. The NLF began in 1960 when in cooperation with the University of Nebraska Medical Center established the Lions Eye Bank of Nebraska (LEBN). LEBN is the critical point for eye tissues to be received, tested and utilized for cornea transplants for Nebraska eye surgeons. (eyebanknebraska.org)
Key programs of the NLF are Individual Assistance, Hearing, Sight, Special Olympics-Opening Eyes, Camps, and more.
The NLF also operates at least another 10 programs available across Nebraska. More information on the Nebraska Lions Foundation can be found at https://www.md38.com/copy-of-alliance-2
The Alliance Lions Club meets every Wednesday at noon at the Pizza Hut. For information call 308-760-7724.