Donating used eyewear, including prescription glasses and sealed contact lenses, provides vision correction to individuals worldwide who lack access to affordable care. Your unused glasses can significantly improve someone’s ability to work, learn, and maintain independence. Instead of discarding these items, donating allows for their repurposing and distribution to underserved communities globally, helping bridge the gap in vision care.
Major Organizations Accepting Eyewear Donations
The most extensive program for collecting used glasses is operated by Lions Clubs International through their Recycle For Sight initiative. The Lions’ global network of volunteers collects, sorts, and prepares the eyewear for distribution. Drop-off points are often found in accessible public spaces, including:
- Local libraries
- Community centers
- Banks
- Optical retailers like Walmart Vision Centers
Major optical chains frequently participate as collection partners for large non-profits. For instance, locations like LensCrafters and Pearle Vision often host collection bins that route donations to organizations like OneSight. If a local drop-off point is unavailable, several organizations accept eyewear via mail. VSP Eyes of Hope accepts new and gently used glasses. Other specialized non-profits, such as ReSpectacle, focus on utilizing technology to match specific prescriptions from donated glasses with recipients globally.
What Types of Glasses and Contacts Are Accepted
Organizations generally accept all forms of prescription eyewear, including single-vision, bifocals, and progressive lenses, as well as non-prescription reading glasses and sunglasses. Prescription sunglasses are also welcomed, particularly for use in regions where sun protection is valuable. Even glasses with minor damage or broken frames are accepted by certain organizations, which can strip them for scrap metal to help fund the recycling programs.
The criteria for donating contact lenses are more stringent due to hygiene and medical regulations. Contacts must be unused, unexpired, and remain sealed in their original, unopened packaging or blister packs. Opened boxes or individual lenses that have been removed from the sealed foil cannot be accepted, as sterility must be ensured to prevent the risk of transmitting eye infections. Specialized organizations like DonateContacts focus on collecting these unused, sealed lenses via mail.
Preparing Your Items for Donation
Before donating, perform a few simple preparation steps to ensure the glasses are ready for processing. Begin by gently cleaning the frames and lenses with mild soap and water to remove any accumulated dirt or oils. This initial cleaning step helps expedite the sanitation process once the glasses reach the recycling center.
When using a collection box, remove the glasses from any hard cases, as organizations often discard these to save on shipping and processing volume. If mailing your eyewear, use a sturdy corrugated cardboard box to prevent damage during transit. Wrap each pair of glasses individually in protective material like bubble wrap or packing paper to cushion the frames and keep the lenses intact.
Securely fill any empty space inside the shipping box with crumpled newspaper or packing peanuts to prevent movement and breakage. Clearly label the outside of the box as “FRAGILE” to alert mail carriers to handle the contents with care. If you are donating sealed contact lenses, always confirm with the specific organization first, as not all eyewear drop boxes are equipped to handle them.
The Journey of Donated Eyewear
Once the donated glasses arrive at a recycling center, such as a Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center (LERC), they enter a detailed processing pipeline. Volunteers first sort the incoming eyewear, separating unusable frames for recycling into scrap metal to generate program revenue. The usable pairs are then thoroughly cleaned and sanitized for reuse.
The specific prescription of each pair of glasses is accurately determined using a specialized instrument called a lensometer. After the prescription is read, the details are often written directly onto a small plastic bag, and the glasses are individually packaged.
The final step involves bulk sorting and boxing the glasses according to their prescription power and type, like distance or reading. These categorized boxes are then distributed to humanitarian groups, optometric missions, and non-profit partners who travel to developing nations and underserved communities globally. The distributed glasses are matched with recipients whose measured refractive error corresponds to the donated lens power, providing them with clear vision at no cost.