A specialized eye scanner, similar to the one pictured here, is used to help detect eye health issues in children. Nanaimo and area Lions Club members helped refer nearly 200 kids during this year's screening. (Image Credit: School Health)

By Alex Rawnsley

eye health

Nearly 200 Nanaimo-Ladysmith kids referred to eye professionals via Lions screening

Apr 11, 2026 | 8:43 AM

NANAIMO — Local volunteers through the area’s Lions Clubs are helping a large number of kids see a little clearer.

Between November 2025 and mid-March 2026, Nanaimo, Hub City, and Ladysmith Lions Club members, along with selected volunteers, toured local schools and helped vision test around 2,000 students in grades one and five, using a specialized camera called a Spot Vision Screener.

Nanaimo Lions Club member Larrie Taylor said the device can detect an array of eye health issues in young children.

“It identifies six eye conditions, and when it identifies that child, we run a printout, which we present to the principal, and the principal makes sure that the parents receive it and follow up, because we are recommending this child needs to go to a professional.”

A total of 188 students were referred through the program this school year, as members worked in partnership with School District 68 to visit every elementary school in the region.

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Nanaimo Lions Club purchased the camera, at a cost of around $14,000 several years ago for the program, which began in the community in 2015.

A grant from Lions Clubs International Foundation helped them secure the device, one of only a handful on Vancouver Island.

He said they took inspiration from their fellow Lions in Port Alberni who started in the early 2010s.

Eye health is a major focus for Lions Clubs worldwide, with Helen Keller urging the group in the 1920s to make it a foundational part of their global mission.

Taylor told NanaimoNewsNOW they look forward to the program every year, doing their part to reduce eye health issues for kids later in life.

“It’s very critical to catch these conditions in kids as early as possible. If they are not properly seeing the board, then they tend to just phase out and drop out of the system.”

The Nanaimo Lions Club is celebrating its 80th anniversary this August, with an event planned at Maffeo Sutton Park later in the month.

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by Alex Rawnsley

Nearly 200 Nanaimo-Ladysmith kids referred to eye professionals via Lions screening

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