“Lost” glasses provide sight to new owners

County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer standing next to the boxes holding thousands of lost and donated glasses being provided to the Lions Club Eyeglass Recycling Center (LERC)

They have been orphaned on buses, forgotten on light rail, and abandoned at Park and Rides. Others have been taking up space in junk drawers in homes throughout the region.

They are eyeglasses: thousands of them.

Tuesday, Metropolitan King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer joined with the Lions Club in Auburn to give the homeless eyewear a new lease on life on the noses of people in need of vision help.

“Too often, the ability to see clearly is taken for granted,” said von Reichbauer. “Whether through helping a child read, an adult succeed in her job, or a senior maintain his independence, the small act of recycling these lost glasses turns the misfortune of one into the fortune of another.”

For close to two decades, von Reichbauer has worked with Metro Transit to collect glasses abandoned on Metro buses and sent to Metro’s Lost and Found. Eyewear not claimed by their owner are delivered by von Reichbauer to the Lions Club and their Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center (LERC) program.

LERC checks the prescriptions of the lenses and distributes the glasses to programs throughout the region and throughout the world to provide proper vision to people who cannot afford prescription eyewear.

von Reichbauer and the Lions Club are always on the “lookout” for old glasses in need of a good home.

For more information, you can contact the Lions Club’s local Eyeglass Recycling Center  

Nearby locations where glasses can be dropped off:

98133 Dr. Otto N 182nd / Fremont Ave N, #302 Shoreline

98133 North City Fire Station #63 15th Ave NE / NE 182nd Shoreline

98133 Shoreline Fire Station #61 Aurora Ave N / N 175th St Shoreline

98133 St. Vincent de Paul 13555 Aurora Ave N Seattle

98155 Harvest Christian Center International 15211 15th Ave NE Shoreline

98155 Lake Forest Park Presbyterian Church 17440 Brookside Ave NE Lake Forest Park

98155 Shoreline Fire Station #64 719 NE 185th Shoreline

98155 Shoreline Fire Station #65 145 NE 155th Shoreline

98155 Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Senior Center 18560 1st Ave NE Lake Forest Park

98155 Park Ridge Skilled Nursing 1250 145th Shoreline

98028 St Vincent de Paul 7304 Bothell Way Kenmore