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The Albert Lea Lakeview Lions Club will sponsor free vision screening for children 6 months to 6 years of age.

The screenings are slated for 8 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at United Preschool and 8:30 to noon Oct. 18 at Albert Lea Children’s Center.

“We encourage families to bring their children in for a free vision screening,” said Arlene Richter, club president. “The actual screening takes less than a minute, but the benefits can last a lifetime.”

More than 12 million school-age children in the United States have some form of vision problem, yet only one in three have received eye care services before age 6. Many vision problems run the risk of becoming permanent if not corrected by age 7, when the eye reaches full maturity.

Vision also plays an important role in education. According to educational experts, 80% of learning is visual.

“Early screening leads to early detection, which helps ensure that children get the follow-up care they need,” Richter said. “We want to make sure that correctable vision problems don’t stand in the way of our children learning and seeing the world clearly.”

For more information on the screening event or to learn more about the Albert Lea Lakeview Lions and their service projects, contact Richter at enilra3151@gmail.com.

The screening event is part of a nationwide initiative called Lions KidSight USA, a national coalition that brings together Lions programs that screen children from 6 months to 6 years of age. KidSight USA was developed by Lions in the U.S. to protect eye health of America’s children in their early years. Lions in the U.S. currently screen more than 500,000 children per year.