The Beaufort Lions Club is making strides in children’s eye health by providing free vision screenings at all nine public elementary schools in Carteret County. Utilizing a special camera, club members have already screened over 1,300 students across seven schools since early December.

This initiative is part of the nationwide project Lions KidSight USA, which screens for vision issues such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. If the camera detects any issues, parents are notified and encouraged to seek professional follow-up.

“We’re seeing roughly 10 to 11 percent referral rate, which means we’re really affecting children’s lives through these vision screenings,” said Nan Bejian, president of the Beaufort Lions Club.

“The administrators, the nurses are just thrilled with this. Yesterday when we screened 522 students in 2.5 hours, the nurse was just truly amazed,” Bejian added.

Next week, the Beaufort Lions Club will extend their efforts to a couple of private schools in Carteret County as part of “LUV” Days, short for Lions United Vision. The screenings will conclude in late January and February at Bogue Sound Elementary and Newport Elementary.