He wanted to help the Lions Club with its perennial project to collect used eyeglasses and distribute them to needy people all over the globe. His goal was to bring in 20,000 pairs.
Redensek died in 2005, before his goal was reached, but the post kept going with the project and earlier this month, collected its 20,000th pair of used glasses.
“I think he’d be overjoyed,” said Roger Gering, 72, the current chaplain at the Post and organizer of the eyeglasses collection project. “I think to him it seemed a remarkable number and it certainly turned out that way because it took so long. He emphasized that he was sad he didn’t reach 20,000 before he quit. He was a remarkable gentleman because he kept going and going.”
Redensek stepped down from his role with the Post when his health made it difficult to go to meetings, but the organization kept it up and continues to collect glasses from a variety of points in the community for the Lions Club.
Louis Cecil, the eyeglasses project chairman for the Sheboygan Evening Lions Club, said the VFW’s assistance in collecting glasses has made a world of difference.
“It was a very (great) contribution to the community to be able to do this for the Lions Club,” said Cecil, 68. “That’s how they wanted to help.”
Cecil said the Evening Lions brings in between 500 and 600 pairs of used eyeglasses each year, and he estimated the Sheboygan Noon Lions Club probably collects about the same number.
All the glasses are sent to the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center in Rosholt, where they’re cleaned up, repaired and prepared to be given out.
Noon Lions Club member Pam Oehldrich started last year trying to expand the collection program into a new area, and got permission to collect glasses at Urban Middle School.
This year, she’s aiming even higher.
With the help of the athletic directors and student council advisers at both North and South, Oehldrich plans to collect used eyeglasses, sunglasses, hearing aids and monetary donations for the hour preceding the big North-South football game on Oct. 22.
The Lions Club purchases glasses for students in the Sheboygan area who can’t afford them, and also purchases magnifying machines for students with eye disorders so they can do their homework, Oehldrich said.
“Last year it was one school, this year it’s the North-South game, next year I’d like to expand it further and see what I can do with it,” she said.
The schools haven’t yet met with students to determine who will be helping with the project, according to Danielle Gabrielse, a teacher and student council adviser at South.
Cecil said the eyeglasses project is a priority for the Lions Club.
“It has been and always will be function of Lions Club to collect used eyeglasses for distribution to Third World countries,” he said. “The Lions of Wisconsin collect about 1 million used eyeglasses a year in the state. It’s a great little project for the community. It doesn’t cost people anything to get rid of those used eyeglasses sitting in dresser drawer that nobody uses anymore.”
Members of the Lions Club along with eye doctors and other volunteers go to Mexico every year to distribute the glasses and make sure people are getting proper vision care. Though Cecil hasn’t gone on any of those trips, he has heard the stories from the people who have.
“They talk about kids that make comments like, ‘It’s the first time I can see clearly,’” he said. “People waiting in line for one or two days to get these eyeglasses, traveling from all over. It’s just a wonderful thing. People come back with tears in their eyes because of all the great stories that happen when people get eyeglasses and can see clearly.”