By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Jim Huenergarde, a 29-year member of the Hays Lions Club, has been awarded the international Melvin Jones Fellowship Award.
Huenergarde, 78, has a long history of service in Hays and the state, especially in advancing the Lions' mission of eye health.
Huenergarde has served the Hays Lions as past president, board member, and chairman of the vision screening committee. He serves as vice president of the Kansas Lions Sight Foundation and leads its Finance and Investment Committee.
The foundation provides grants to the school for the blind and leader dogs for the blind.
Huenergarde can often be found in local schools, most recently in Holy Family Elementary School, helping screen children for potential eye issues.
A co-worker asked him to join the club in the 1990s.
"I like the part where we were helping people who had needs, especially the vision, and a lot of it is geared toward children," he said.
"We kept hearing all these children in school who couldn't afford new glasses, or they weren't getting them done," he said. "It was an opportunity to help and get the word out."
Helen Keller challenged the Lions at their 1926 convention to be the Knights of the Blind, and they have championed vision causes ever since.
The Lions have a digital screener that can assess a child's vision in less than a minute for seven vision issues. Screeners can print the results and send them to parents so they can make an appointment with an optometrist.
Optometrists have told Huenergarde that if vision problems can be identified by about age 6 or 7, most can be corrected.
If Lions finds a family that can't afford glasses for a child, they have funds to help pay for those glasses.
Huenergarde said he enjoys working with kids.
He said some children are afraid to be screened, but he points the screener at the kids and says, "I'm just going to take their picture."
"They're fine with that," he said. "You just have to figure out how to deal with them. They're all different."
The Lions also screen and assist adults.
Huenergarde said he remembers offering free vision screenings at the Arc Thrift Store in Hays. A woman came in, and he offered to screen the children. He screened the three children, and their eyesight was fine. He tried to screen the mother, and the equipment would not give an accurate reading.
"I said, 'Something is wrong.' I suggested she get a hold of and go see an optometrist right away," Huenergarde said. ... "She went there Monday morning and found she had a detached retina.
"They were able to get that repaired, so she didn't lose her vision. Early detection gives you the ability to repair or fix."
The Lions also promote diabetes education, as diabetes can lead to severe eye complications.
The Lions collect used glasses for international mission trips with volunteer optometrists. Huenergarde said he has been involved in collecting and sorting these glasses. Prison inmates used to measure the lens prescriptions and sort the glasses manually.
However, the Lions Foundation recently bought a machine that will measure the prescription in the glasses in a fraction of the time.
You can drop off used glasses at the Arc Thrift Store in Hays. Check with your local Lions Club to identify glasses collection sites in other areas of the state.
Huenergarde said he has also enjoyed the camaraderie he feels with other Lions as they meet throughout the year, complete other service projects and fundraisers.
"Lions Club is kind of my other family," he said.
The Hays Lions conduct three main fundraisers throughout the year: a pancake feed in March, bierock sales during Oktoberfest, and a golf tournament.
"You're working with the members," he said. "You're training them. You're helping them. You get them excited about the project. You have fun. That's the biggest part. It's fun."
Huenergarde sometimes wears a lion costume during the pancake feed to bring a little comic relief to the event.
The Lions use some of the funds they raise to help other nonprofits in the community, some of which include Boy Scout Troop 101, Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, and DSNWK. This year, the club has budgeted $16,000 for local grants.
"The money is going right back into our community—every penny of it. I liked that, an opportunity to really give back to the community. That was where the passion is, and it develops as you go."
The Hays Lions Club has 46 members on the roster and about 28 to 30 active members. The number of active members has steadily decreased in recent years, and Huenergarde said smaller numbers make it more difficult for the club to complete projects.
"The younger generation is not interested in this service work or giving back to the community," he said. "It's hard to get anyone interested."
Anyone can visit a Lions Club meeting if they are interested in joining. There is a one-time membership fee of $46, plus $7 monthly membership dues. The first six months of dues are free.
The Hays club, which was founded in 1924, meets weekly at noon Tuesdays at the Verdant Bistro meeting room at the Hadley Center. If you eat, the meal costs $12.50.