Donate Old Glasses & Unused Contact Lenses
When I was growing up, donating our old glasses was as much a part of my life as eating popsicles in the summer. I thought everyone did this until I mentioned it to Martin and he looked at me like I was speaking Greek. So for those of you who might not know…
Donate your old glasses and unused contact lenses instead of tossing them or keeping them in the closet until kingdom come!
New Eyes for the Needy started collecting glasses way back in 1932 when a Red Cross nurse noticed that people coming for help couldn’t read all the forms. They didn’t have money to buy glasses. Since then, the organization has helped seven million people in 56 countries. Isn’t that incredible?
Sadly, it’s still a problem today, so good thing those of us access to 20/20 can help.
1. Give your old glasses and unused contact lenses to:
New Eyes for the Needy
549 Millburn Avenue
PO Box 332
Short Hills, NJ 07078
2. Make a $60 donation to buy an American a pair of glasses.
Don’t have to deal with glasses? Well first, lucky you! Second, here’s your chance to buy your first set of glasses. More information here.
3. Donate other stuff to raise money for glasses
New Eyes for the Needy accepts:
So how easy is that? You keep stuff out of the landfill, help people, and get a tax deduction for your green efforts.
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January 14th, 2009 at 11:41 am
The “I use to want to be an optometrist girl” says, “YEAH!!!”
January 14th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
We use to do this, too. It’s a great idea and so helpful. :0)
January 27th, 2009 at 7:41 am
That’s awesome Katie. I went to our local Best Buy yesterday and noticed that they have an enormous bin in the front of their store accepting old cell phones - they recycle them for women’s shelters, I think. Good deeds abound.
March 17th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
There is a great non-profit women’s human rights organization that accepts unopened contact lenses and old eyeglasses, and distributes them to underprivileged women and children all over the world.
Include any pertinent information, name, address, and phone number and they’ll send you a receipt for tax purposes. if you’re donating contacts, make sure their expiration date is more than six months from now
MADRE
Attn: Helping Hands Campaign
121 West 27th Street, #301
New York, NY 10001
212.627.0444 (tel)
212.675.3704 (fax)
helpinghands@madre.org
http://www.MADRE.org
April 28th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Awesome! My eyes are 20-20 thanks to surgery… I will send all my contacts to New Eyes for the Needy. I’m glad they’ll find a home.
June 29th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Here’s a link to an article explaining how to recycle unused and unopened contact lenses with MADRE.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5130543_donate-contact-lenses.html