In 1925, Helen Keller challenged Lions Club members to become "Knights for the Blind." They accepted and a member-wide effort toward sight preservation began. In the early 1970's, a young physician named Richard E. Nieman, MD came to Austin to set up his opthalmology practice. He took his idea of beginning an eye bank to the Austin Lions and quickly won their support. To reward Dr. Nieman for his efforts, they asked him to volunteer to be the Eye Bank's medical director. They have insisted he maintain this role for the past 25 years.

The Lions Emblem: "Lions - the greatest bunch of people anywhere. Lions support makes possible service projects like our Eye Bank's SIGHT RESTORATION PROGRAM. Lions working . . . so that others may see.

Our Lions Eye Bank began in 1974. . . when District 2-S3 Lions met at their October midwinter conference in Georgetown; and, voted to expand their role as "knights for the blind" to include eye donation and sight restoration.

Seton Medical Center agreed to give our eye bank its first home . . . Our first space was in a small closet-like area in the eye lab, which was located behind the Seton emergency room.
Lion Richard E. Nieman, MD helped spearhead this project. He is our first (and only) medical director.

The first director of the eye bank was Dan Pittsford
Lions actively support our eye bank; and, have maintained various levels of involvement:

• Lions distribute donor brochures and donor cards.
• In the early days, Lions helped by transporting the donor tissues needed for sight restoring transplantation.
• Lions Clubs throughout our three Districts support the Eye Bank with 100% Humanitarian contributions.
• And, Lions Club members support the Eye Bank through the purchase of Life Memberships.

In 1989, District 2-S3 divided and became Districts 2-S3 and 2-S5 - both districts continued to support our eye bank.

During our first 17 years, our eye bank primarily recovered donor tissues from the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office - and patients remained on a waiting list until tissues became available. In 1991, our eye bank lost its Eye Bank Association of America accreditation and the Lions Board of Directors determined it was time to add another employee to help get the eye bank back in shape.

In September 1992, Bess Beliveaux joined Lions Eye Bank of Districts 2-S3 & 2-S5 as Associate Director. Shortly after her arrival, Seton announced it was time to move our eye bank into the basement at Seton Medical Park Towers. This move became a reality in November 1993. Ethel Hester became the Eye Bank's first (part-time) secretary December 13, 1993. Ironically, this is also the day the FDA became part of our eye banking lives.

HOORAY! We passed EBAA inspection in May 1994 and regained our accreditation. Our most recent inspection was in May 2000 and we are happy to report that our accreditation status remains intact!
We needed to grow in order that we better serve our districts. So, two more employees were added. Here is what was then the Eye Bank's three core employees at a National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week celebration in Pease Park, Austin, Texas.

And, the numbers of Central Texas counties we serve jumped from 21 to 36! Seton needed our space (again)! - And, when we went hunting for a new home, St. David's Medical Center was happy to take us in. The move to our new - and larger - quarters took place in March, 1997.

Our Lions Club Members worked together to provide matching funds for a LCIF grant that made possible much needed equipment like:

• a new tissue banking refrigerator, and
• a new specular microscope for performing cell counts on donor corneas

We needed to grow - and we grew. What was a four employee eye bank in March 1997 - grew, and grew, and grew - NOW, we are 12.

And, our eye bank has been making significant progress in the fight for sight restoration. In 2000, we achieved a goal never before thought possible: more than 1.000 donor corneas placed for transplantation! As we grew, our space became smaller. . .and, smaller. . . and, smaller and . . .with no more room to grow and our host (St. David's changing their status from non-profit to for profit) . . . we went on the prowl for a new - and hopefully - permanent home.

Through the clouds of a cold day in January 2000 came the possibility of an existing building that CAN become a permanent home for our Eye Bank. To see our permanent home, go to our Vision for the Future page.