From Bishop’s Falls to Haiti: Inmates participate in eyeglasses program

Glasses will travel with Team Broken Earth to Haiti

CBC News Posted: Oct 29, 2015 9:00 PM NT Last Updated: Oct 29, 2015 9:00 PM NT

Inmates and correctional staff at the Bishop's Falls Correctional Centre have teamed up with the Lions Club to restore old eyeglasses for people in need. Inmates and correctional staff at the Bishop’s Falls Correctional Centre have teamed up with the Lions Club to restore old eyeglasses for people in need. (Doug Wells/The Des Moines Register/Associated Press)

    Inmates at a correctional centre in central Newfoundland are taking part in a program to restore eyeglasses for people in Haiti.

    In partnership with the Lions Clubs of Newfoundland and Labrador, a satellite eyeglass recycling depot has been set up at the Bishop’s Falls Correctional Facility — the first satellite depot in Canada.

    Inmates participating in the program, which will be overseen by correctional officers, will receive eyeglass repair training, and will be responsible for processing, sorting, cleaning, measuring, tagging and then bagging the recycled eyeglasses.

    So far, 25,000 pairs of eyeglasses have been donated, and once refurbished, many will go to Haiti with St. John’s-based medical group Team Broken Earth.

    To prepare for the program, six correctional officers underwent training on how to use a lensmeter.

    The RCMP are also involved in the project and will be accepting and transporting any donated glasses to the correctional facility.

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