The Coppell Lions Club has dedicated the “Coppell Lions Club Game Shelf for Blind and Visually Impaired Players” at the Cozby Library and Community Commons. Coppell Lions Club is celebrating the Lions Club Centennial this year and developed the game shelf as a legacy project to offer accessible gaming to the blind and visually impaired members of the community. Braille overlays have been applied to many elements of the games which allow sighted players to seamlessly play alongside players with visual impairments.

 The game shelf currently offers nine games, including Tsuro, Roll for It, Mille Bornes, The Resistance, Love Letter, Yoink, Apples to Apples, Munchkin, and Memory. The games are available for checkout at the Library, 177 N Heartz Rd Coppell, TX, for a 21-day period. Library cardholders may begin checking these items out this week. Non-cardholders may obtain a TexShare card from their home library for the opportunity to check out a game.

 The Coppell Lions Club will maintain the games on the shelf and as part of the legacy project will add new titles annually. Games are suitable for ages 3 to adult and for all levels of braille use.

 For more information, please call 972-304-3658, stop by the Information Desk, or email CozbyPrograms@coppelltx.gov. 

Twenty-seven years ago the Coppell Lions Club helped develop and build a "Welcome to Coppell" sign on

Belt Line Road just north of Highway 635. Over the years, the sign started to show its age, and needed to

be refreshed.The Coppell Lions Club worked with the city to develop and implement a plan to clean and

paint the sign as one of our Legacy Projects.  We also replaced the Lions sign that accompanied the city sign.

The work was completed on April, 2017.  The first photo shows the sign prior to our efforts.

The second photos shows new Lion Margaret Meek painting the sign, her first project as a new Lion.

The third photo shows the finished product.  Coppell Lions President Mindy Helsley is on the left, with

Incoming President Lion Dan Madden on the right.

The Coppell Leo Club held a bake sale in front of Ace Hardware on March 18^th to raise funds for portable nebulizers for the Primary Care Clinic of North Texas.  The clinic treats low income uninsured patients.  Leo Club Vice President Isabel Mascarenhas knew from volunteering at the clinic that there was a significant need for portable nebulizers.  Low-income patients with asthma can use these machines as a low cost treatment for asthma symptoms.

Leo Club President Veronica Nguyen was very impressed with the generosity of shoppers at Ace Hardware.  “Once people heard about the opportunity to help provide nebulizers for low income patients, they were very willing to help out,” she said. “We also appreciate the support from Ace Hardware.”

The Coppell Leo Club is a service organization for high school students.  It is an extension of the Coppell Lions Club.  There are over 6,500 Leo clubs in more than 140 nations.  Leo clubs provide young people with an opportunity for development and contribution, individually and collectively, as responsible members of the local, national and international community.  The Leo club motto is Leadership, Experience, Opportunity. 

COPPELL LIONS CLUB PROVIDE NEW VISION SCREENING FOR 6 mo-6 Yr olds.

This year Lions Clubs International (LCI) is celebrating 100 Years of working together to improve communities.  LCI is now the world’s largest service organization, with more than 1.35 million members in more than 45,000 clubs all around the globe.

One of many areas of focus includes aiding the blind and visually impaired. Lions clubs have provided vision clinics to detect and correct vision issues for many years.

Recently LCI began a program called KidSight USA, designed to safeguard the vision of children ages 6 months to 6 years. Lions clubs in North Texas can now offer vision screenings to children using state of the art technology devices call Spot Vision Screeners. These hand held, portable devices allow users to quickly and easily detect vision issues. Both eyes are screened at once from a nonthreatening 3-foot distance.

North Texas Lions clubs are partnering with local pre-schools, day cares, libraries and other organizations to provide free vision screenings. The Coppell Lions Club has partnered with the Coppell Library to provide screens to the young people that visit for their children’s programs. The club plans to partner with several pre-schools and day cares to provide the screenings as well.

Screenings are fast, easy and non-threatening to the kids. Parents fill out an application giving permission to perform the screen. There is no diagnosis provided, only test results that can aid with a professional diagnosis. A recommendation for a complete eye exam is made when indicated.

Why 6 months to 6 years old? The first few years of a child’s life are critical in the development of good vision. Children should have their vision checked for issues such as misaligned eyes, and problems that need correction with eyeglasses. These problems are not always evident by simply looking at a child. Young children often compensate for vision problems so well that parents, teachers, and pediatricians are unaware of a problem. Many common vision-robbing conditions such as “lazy eye” can be effectively treated if detected in a child’s formative years.

About 7-15% of kids screened will be referred for a follow-up exam by an eye-care professional. Approximately 5% of all children in this age group will have amblyopia, a treatable disorder than can result in permanently reduced vision when not addressed by an early age. The screening devices detect risk factors for amblyopia, such as strabismus (eyes that cross or wander out,) refractive errors and unequal vision between the two eyes, and potentially even more serious issues such as cataracts and eye cancer.

 The Coppell Lions Club look forward to providing this valuable service for many years to come. If you’re interested in learning more, or scheduling a screening, contact Tim Decker   timdecker@sbcglobal.net

Local Coppell youth—Kelsey Leffingwell and Jacob Gorman—recently spoke to the Coppell Lions Club about their experiences at summer camp in Kerrville, Texas.  It was heart-warming to hear about how much fun they had and what they had experienced during their week in the Texas Hill Country. 

 Kelsey Leffingwell, who has attended several years, has graduated from camp.  She is keeping up with friends that she made and is planning to apply to be a counselor in the future. 

 Jacob and his father spoke about the fun that he has had at camp and how they wish that other children can be aware of and participate in this camp in the future.

 The mission of the Texas Lions Camp is to provide, without charge, a camp for physically disabled, hearing/vision impaired, and diabetic children from the State of Texas, regardless of race, religion, or national origin. Our goal is to provide an atmosphere wherein campers will learn the "Can Do" philosophy and be allowed to achieve maximum personal growth and self-esteem.

 If you know of anyone who might be interested in learning more about TLC, please contact Lion Margaret Bryan, margaret.bryan@verizon.net, 214-668-4247.