The Aurora Lions Club, in conjunction with DeKalb-based Lions of Illinois Foundation, turned its attention to seniors on Wednesday by offering free screenings for hearing loss and retinal eye diseases in Aurora.
The four-hour event was held at the Senior Services Associates parking lot, 2111 Plum St., in Aurora. The event was formerly held at Lutheran Social Services at 31 S. Edgelawn Drive in Aurora.
Mary Leifheit of Aurora was able to get free vision and hearing screenings at the event,
“I’ve never had a screening from the Lions Club and I know I could spend $100 with an optometrist but this won’t cost anything,” she said. “I was having problems seeing and the hearing – I don’t remember how long it’s been. I found out about this at our senior center. As a senior – having this available – I’m getting older and you never know. My mother had hearing problems.”
Aurora Lions Club President Randy Brown noted that the screening services “remain part of the Lions’ mission” and that it is something important to offer to the community.
“The screenings are one of the main pillars of Lions International. A lot of time (seniors) don’t have the ability to get out and go to an eye doctor,” Brown said. “This gives them an idea if they need to reach out further to an eye doctor to follow up from what we give them.”
Former president of the Aurora Lions Club Susan Koepke said a traveling van was on hand Wednesday to conduct the vision and hearing screenings at the Senior Services Associates site.
“(Senior Services) actually scheduled the appointments for us, so people know when they are supposed to be here and won’t have to wait around,” she said.
Koepke said the Lions of Illinois Foundation vehicle on site was a brand new one that was just secured last year.
“This mobile unit we are bringing in, it is geared more toward adults because it’s looking for macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, up to four or five things,” she said.
Koepke said the hearing test portion of the unit, in particular, has been significantly updated.
Senior testing, she said, “fell down a little bit for a while but we’ve picked it up again,” adding that “last year, we did it twice and we’re targeted to do it twice again this year.”
“If I can find a place where I can get a group I will do it as many times as I can fit it in the calendar,” she said.
In addition to the screenings, eyeglasses, cellphones, hearing aids and sneakers were collected for recycling at the event.
Frankie Fisher of Aurora said she heard about the screening event through a local Bingo program and said while she isn’t having any issues, “I wanted to get things checked out.”
“I know most of the screening the Lions do are for kids, and I was surprised there was something like this for seniors,” Fisher said. “It’s a good opportunity and I’m glad they offer this. It’s nice this has been added too.”
Verna Corbin, also from Aurora, said she had a screening done a year ago and wanted to follow up “because sometimes, I get blurred vision.”
“I’m concerned about both hearing and vision – my mom had glaucoma, so I want to know what’s going on. It’s good to get tested every year,” Corbin said.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.