Have any old eyeglasses you no longer wear around the house?

You can bet that someone around the world would love to have them.

Similar to Rotarians’ efforts to battle polio, Lions Clubs International has a program called “Lions in Sight” that gathers eyeglasses and distributes them worldwide.

According to the Lions, people in third world countries always need glasses and the vital gift of sight.

When areas of Sri Lanka were devastated by the tsunami of 2004, more than 2.5 million people were displaced by the tragedy. Thousands lost their eyeglasses and the ability to see clearly.

Working together, Lions in Sri Lanka and Massachusetts collected more than 30,000 usable eyeglasses to help the tsunami victims.

And here at home, recently, 5,000 pairs of eyeglasses were distributed to villagers throughout the mountainous terrain of war-torn Afghanistan by Hawaii Lions Club members.

Where will your unwanted glasses go, and who will be happy to receive them?

West Maui Lions will participate in a statewide “Lions in Sight” project on Saturday, Jan. 15, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

They ask residents to look through dresser drawers and closets for used eyeglasses and donate them to the Lions’ “Recycle For Sight” drop-off location at Lahaina Cannery Mall. For more information, contact President Linda Elms at 276-1191.

Lions will also collect used eyeglasses at Walmart and Lenscrafters at Queen Ka’ahumanu Center and Kihei.

Imagine if a disaster took your glasses and the ability to see. Those of us who depend on glasses and contacts can imagine how scary that would be.