MAY 2022 | VOL 5

FLORIDA LIONS EYE BANK'S INSTALLATION DINNER GALA

In recognition of Florida Lions Eye Bank’s 60th Anniversary and Beauty of Sight Foundation’s 5th Anniversary, we will celebrate this year’s Installation Dinner Gala aboard the Venetian Lady, a 130-foot luxury yacht departing from Bayside Marina on the evening of Saturday, June 11th. The gala will feature a four-course dinner, open bar, board of directors’ installation ceremony, and awards presentations while cruising Biscayne Bay and taking in spectacular views of the Miami skyline. For more information or to purchase tickets for the event, please follow the link below. We hope you will join us for this celebratory event!

Florida Lions Eye Bank President PID Geoff Wade and Florida Lions Eye Bank Past President PID Stacey Jones with Lions International 1^st VP Brian Sheehan at the MD-35 Lions Convention in Miami.

LIONS INTERNATIONAL 1st VICE PRESIDENT BRIAN SHEEHAN VISITS FLORIDA LIONS EYE BANK

On April 28th, Florida Lions Eye Bank was honored with a visitation by Lions International First Vice President Brian Sheehan and his wife, Lori. During the visit, VP Brian and Lori toured the eye bank laboratory, pathology laboratory, and research laboratory, where we shared information on our current operations and our vision for the future of eye banking. Brian Sheehan will be sworn in as President of Lions International in Montreal in June of 2023 and has committed himself to help Lions Eye Banks adapt to the changing needs of our communities. In addition, VP Brian and Lori were in Miami to attend the 97th Annual Multiple District 35 Lions Convention held at the Miami Airport Marriott from April 28th to May 1st. 

BUILDING OUR FUTURE

TOGETHER

As many of our supporters know, last year, Florida Lions Eye Bank purchased a lot at 1800 NW 7th Ave in Miami to serve as the site of our new headquarters. Last month, the board of directors selected Coral Gables-based architectural firm, Wolfberg Alvarez & Partners, to begin the design phase of the building. This new facility will feature state-of-the-art laboratories for processing corneal tissue and Serum Tears. It will also allow us to expand our research and innovation efforts and services to our community.

With the project's design phase nearing completion, we are excited to share the conceptual design with our friends and supporters. To get involved or find out more, please contact Executive Director Elizabeth Fout at efcaraza@med.miami.edu.

We look forward to having you join us on this journey.

FLORIDA LIONS EYE BANK RELEASES 2021 ANNUAL REPORT



The Florida Lions Eye Bank’s Annual Report was released in late April. This year’s report features Carlos Archilla-Cody, a six-time corneal transplant recipient, physician, international business leader, disability inclusion advocate, and astronaut-in-training. We hope his story will inspire you as much as it did us! 

The Annual Report also includes our 2020-2021 Status Report, seen below. We are excited to share that Florida Lions Eye Bank was able to help 2,691 patients through our cornea program and Serum Tears program. In addition, we distributed 899 tissues for research and education and provided diagnostic services for 4,589 patients whose tissues were sent to our Pathology Lab.

Finally, the Annual Report includes our President’s Report and Medical Director’s Report and features information on an innovative new device developed to measure accommodation, funded by the Florida Lions Eye Bank’s Beauty of Sight Foundation. To read the full report, click the link below.