Lions Eye Institute for Transplant and Research

Through the devotion of Lions Club members, the Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research was founded as an eye bank dedicated to the evaluation and distribution of eye tissue for transplantation. Over the past 30-plus years, our commitment has remained the same — an unwavering dedication to clinical excellence and a passion for providing care and service delivered with compassion and respect. 

Since then, we have created a model unlike anything ever realized before; we are the first and only combined eye bank and ocular research center in the world — empowering researchers to conduct real-time studies of healthy and diseased ocular tissue leading to a greater understanding of the events that lead to blindness. 

As a nonprofit, we are grounded in the belief that everyone deserves the gift of sight, and the Foundation was established for that purpose. We humbly donate over $1 million of our services annually and give thousands of dollars to help improve vision internationally. We work to educate and inspire communities about ocular research as well as host and fund special events to help people understand that blindness is something everyone faces. Our dream will be realized when everyone — those affected by eye disease, as well as those with healthy eyes — fully appreciates and values the gift of sight.