Lions Clubs help transport eye tissue donations

This year, members of the Central and Eastern Iowa Lions Clubs celebrated a milestone. Club members have transported ocular - eye - tissue from their 3,000th donor.

For the past six years, Lions Club volunteers from the two regions have been picking up donated corneas and delivering them to hospitals for use in surgery or research.

Iowa State Patrol troopers formerly transported donated corneas. But in 2009, the patrol called 'and said, ‘We just can't do that anymore. We don't have the funds for the overtime. We don't have the funds for the fuel,' ” says Jack Ratekin, director of donor development at the Iowa Lions Eye Bank. 'We were at a loss. If we had to pay for that transport … it's a huge cost.”

Enter the Lions Clubs' volunteers.

The Iowa Lions Eye Bank, part of the Department of Ophthalmology at the UI Carver College of Medicine, opened in 1955. The Iowa Lions Eye Bank in Coralville obtains, medically evaluates, prepares and distributes corneas for transplants, research and education.

Donated corneas must be received at the bank within 24 hours after a donor dies, Ratekin said.

Members of Lions Clubs in central Iowa were the first to volunteer to help with transportation, followed a year later by the Lions in Eastern Iowa, who partnered with the Wisconsin Eye Bank to extend donated eye tissue into that state.

'Generally speaking, every cornea that these guys bring to us would account for one corneal transplant,” Ratekin said. 'Up to eight other people could receive tissue from that as well.”

As of Sept. 30, members of the Central Iowa Lions Clubs have driven almost 500,000 miles in transporting corneas. Members of Eastern Iowa Lions Clubs have driven a total of 215,517 miles.

'It's a huge benefit to us that we are forever grateful for,” Ratekin said.

One of those volunteers is Dick Minette of Cedar Rapids.

Minette, a Lion for 41 years and member of the Iowa City club, drove a route in 2009 the first day the Lions began transporting corneas. He recently drove a 100-mile route from Cedar Rapids, to Coralville, then to Anamosa and back to Cedar Rapids.

Minette noted that sight and hearing are international projects for the Lions.

It is fulfilling, he said, to know his efforts are helping people regain their sight.

'I can remember back when I was a kid, my dad was a Lion,” Minette said. 'His club was actually raising money for the Iowa Lions Eye Bank back in the '50s. It was always something I grew up with. There's never been a doubt in my mind that sight and hearing are the two principal reasons to be a Lion.”