Company Profile

In October of 1996 Lions in Galveston took up Helen Keller’s Challenge to become Knights of Sight

It was in the April of that year the Eye Bank, which then served the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston , closed its local office and ceased to provide meaningful service to that hospital.

Five months later, the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch approached the Galveston Lions Club and asked them if they would be willing to sponsor a Lions Eye Bank at the hospital.  On October 4^th that year, in a special meeting, the club’s board of directors made the now historic decision to proceed in the formation of a Lions Eye Bank.

The Southeast Texas Lions Eye Bank was incorporated and registered as a Texas Corporation with the Secretary of State only 10 days later on Oct. 14, 1996 .   It is licensed by the Lions Clubs International Fund as a Lions Eye Bank and is a non-profit  tax-exempt  corporation as described in Section 501(c) (3) of the US Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Southeast Texas Lions Eye Bank, Inc. are tax deductible, as allowed under the Internal Revenue Service code. All the Lions Clubs on Galveston Island and several in lions district 2s4 are now sponsors of the Southeast Texas Lions Eye Bank, Inc.

We are now in our seventh year of operation, supplying the needs of eye surgeons not only in Galveston , but also in Beaumont and Lake Jackson .  Additionally, we provide research and training globes to the Ophthalmology department at UTMB and have received a research grant from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health, and are co-recipients of the 2002 Networking Grant from the Eye Bank Association of America. We also received a generous grant from the Mainland Medical Center ’s Ladies Auxiliary to provide eyeglasses to any needy citizen of the Galveston County . We are an associate member of  the Eye Bank Association of America and are registered with the Food and Drug Administration.

If you would like to have program for your club meeting, more information on the Southeast Texas Lions Eye Bank, Inc.,  becoming a sponsor, or to make a donation, tribute, or memorial  please contact our Executive Director, Lion Wayne Lange or our Quality Assurance Administrator Lion Rosemary Moore at the  phone number or address listed below.

Yours in Lion Service

Lion John E. Carstarphen

Immediate Past President, Board of Directors

Southeast Texas Lions Eye Bank, Inc.

Contact Information      

Telephone

409-747-5816

FAX

409-747-5817

Postal address

700 University Blvd. Galveston, TX 77555-1106

Electronic mail

General Information: rfmoore@utmb.edu
Sponsorship, donations, tributes and Memorials: rfmoore@utmb.edu
Tissue inquiries:walange@utmb.edu
Webmaster: walange@utmb.edu

 Sponsor Contact Information

Galveston Lions Club

Lion President Mary Ann Taylor

Galveston West End Lions Club

Lion President David W. Jones

Galveston Evening Lions Club

Lion President Eddie Johnson

Skidmore-Tynan Lions Club

Lion Past President Russ Duggins

League City Lions Club

Lion President Michael Baughnam