If you’re like many people, you have a drawer in your kitchen which you loosely refer to as “the junk drawer,” where all sorts of odds and ends wind up. Usually it is in this very place that old sunglasses and your obsolete prescription eyeglasses find a permanent resting place. You could free up some of that important junk space (for better junk items, of course), and help people in need at the same time by donating those leftover specs.

To help in the cause of changing lives with proper vision, below are some places that accept used eyeglasses donations:

Lion’s Club International

One of the Lions Club’s philanthropic missions is to send recycled eyeglasses to people in need around the world. They collect prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses, broken eyeglass parts and clip-on sunglasses with metal parts.

Donations can be dropped off at one of many local Lions Club drop-off locations, or you can download a shipping label and mail the glasses to their recycling facility in Vallejo, California. The recycling operation includes sorting, cleaning and processing the donated items, after which they are packaged and delivered to clinics in developing countries.

OneSight is an independent non-profit organization that collects gently used eyewear and forwards it to Lions Club International in support of their vision care mission. You can drop off eyeglasses for donation through OneSight at your local LensCrafters, Sears Optical or Pearle Vision stores.

New Eyes For The Needy

Founded in 1932, New Eyes is a non-profit organization with a program that recycles donations of used prescription eyeglasses, reading glasses, sunglasses, safety glasses and children’s glasses. The glasses, which must be in good to excellent condition, are distributed to the needy in poverty-stricken countries.

There are no local drop-off locations, but donations can be packaged carefully and mailed to their headquarters, where the recycling operation takes place:

New Eyes for the Needy
549 Millburn Avenue
Short Hill, NJ 07078

VSP Eyes Of Hope

In this program by VSP Global, a group of five complementary businesses are involved in eye care insurance, lens enhancements, ophthalmic technology and more. Eyes of Hope distributes new and gently-used eyewear to people in need. To find out how to donate eyewear, contact Eyes of Hope.

National Vision, Inc. (NVI)

This large optical retailer in the U.S. is widespread with locations throughout the country, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. They maintain a corporate foundation, under which they operate two programs, 20/20 Quest and Frames for the World. Donations of eyeglass frames and lenses help with their mission of distributing eyewear to qualified non-profit clinics in developing nations. Find out how to donate your eyeglasses (no sunglasses or parts of eyeglasses) to Frames for the Needy on their website.

By donating old eyeglasses, you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of ousting things unneeded, while making a real difference to someone whose world might completely expand with the power to see clearly.