PURPOSE
More than 250,000 people living in Pennsylvania suffer from some form of visual disability. The Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Service Foundation (NEPALSF) helps individuals by funding services, education, and programs that assist members of the disabilities community, with a priority to those with visual and hearing impairments.
WHO WE SERVE
The Foundation serves Lions, Lions/Lioness, and Leo clubs located in Central and Eastern Pennsylvania Lions districts. To locate a club, visit https://directory.lionsclubs.org and use the Find a Club locator. For additional help, please call 484-546-2085.
WHAT WE FUND
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Patient care. The Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Service Foundation helps to pay for treatment and equipment for individuals with vision or hearing needs. Funded treatment and equipment include cataract surgery, cornea transplants, vision therapy, special glasses/contacts, speech therapy for children with hearing loss, hearing aids, baby monitors for parents who are deaf, and talking computer software, among others. All requests MUST include a signed HIPAA release form witnessed by the physician’s office.
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Equipment. The Foundation helps to fund the purchase of medical equipment to treat or prevent hearing or vision impairment or loss. Recently, the Foundation provided partial funding for the purchase of a vision screener for children under 5 years of age and a digital imaging camera to diagnose retinopathy in premature infants.
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Professional development. The Foundation provides financial assistance to medical professionals, such as occupational and rehabilitation therapists, so they can obtain their visual impairment certification to assist individuals who are visually or hearing impaired. Recipients are expected to serve communities in Central and/or Eastern Pennsylvania Lions districts for a minimum of two years.
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Community projects. Community projects should benefit the general public living in Central and/or Eastern Pennsylvania Lions districts with a component for the disability community. Projects might include vision and hearing loss prevention and rehabilitation; facilities and equipment that improve the vision and hearing welfare of the general public; and public relations campaigns that increase public awareness of the importance of vision and hearing care and available treatment, including tissue and organ donations. The Foundation recently funded enhancements to a braille trail at a Lions park for the visually impaired.
Grants are not made for religious or political purposes or to financially benefit an individual, business, or organization.
ELIGIBILITY
A Lions, Lioness Lions, or Leo club located in a Central or Eastern Pennsylvania Lions district must sponsor a grant application. Applications may be made on behalf of a club project, an individual residing within the club’s jurisdiction or a community group located within the club’s jurisdiction. To locate a club, visit https://directory.lionsclubs.org and use the Find a Club locator. For additional help, please call 484-546-2085.
Items needed to submit the grant application
--Grant application (including the HIPAA release in cases of patient care)
--Copy of the minutes from the sponsoring Lions Club meeting when it was approved to submit the grant application to NEPALSF including description and total project cost amount.
--If applicable, the awarded contractor bid/estimate for the project.
--If applicable, the physician estimated cost for proposed treatment.
CLICK HERE for grant application.
Please email your completed application to: grants@nepalsf.org.
Applications may be mailed if necessary. Please note, however, that this may delay the response. Applications may be mailed to: Attn. Grants Committee
Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Service Foundation
P.O. Box 415
Macungie, PA 18062