ISHPEMING — The various Lions clubs from Marquette County are gathering together once again to provide the Project Kidsight Program for the Marquette County Fair this weekend.

The Project Kidsight Program is designed to identify treatable and preventable causes of vision loss in children ages 6 months to 5 years.

Lions clubs use a mobile vision screener that is programmed to identify vision disorders such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, anisometropia, astigmatism, anisocoria and strabismus through noninvasive testing, said Gwinn Lions Club member Peggy Lindeman.

Lindeman said that a couple years ago she took over the Project Kidsight Program. During this time she updated the vision screening equipment to what it is now. Before, the children would have to sit for long periods of time and had to keep still during the semi-invasive testing.

“Now they can literally screen a kid in a couple seconds,” she said.

This allows children with Autism, ADHD or other disorders to be screened when previously the more invasive and longer testing time prevented or made children uncomfortable with the test.

“So the camera focuses automatically on the child’s pupils, as long as the room is dim enough to make the pupils dilate, and it does like 19 measurements on the eye in a split second,” Lindeman said. “Then it sends it back to the camera, and the longest part is waiting for it to print. So if they pass, we can get a printout to the parent with immediate results. If they fail, the machine recommends the child be seen by a physician. Then we provide them with a letter explaining that we recommend them to see said physician.”

A fail on the machine’s scan can mean there are a number of ocular issues present in the child. Lindeman said that on multiple occasions, upon going to a physician when their scan failed, children have been diagnosed with cataracts, eye cancer or other issues. Lindeman said that dealing with these diagnoses early can help stop the manifestation of the problems, or cure them altogether depending on the issue. She also said that the time that the testing is done is beneficial as well.

“I think this is a great time to do it since kids are getting ready to go back to school,” Lindeman said.

The Lions Club and its mobile vision screening device will be located behind the ticket booth at the Marquette County Fair this weekend. Lions Club members from Gwinn, Marquette, Ishpeming, Negaunee and the rest of the county will be assisting in this benefit to the community, according to Lindeman.

Though the Lions Club is providing a free and potentially life-improving service, it is also looking for help.

“All Lions clubs are looking for members. We meet twice a month,” said Ishpeming Lions Club president Kurt Kipling. The Ishpeming Lions Club meets the first and third Wednesdays of the month. It helps the community from highway cleanups to giving money to local businesses and establishments, but they require an annual $60 in club dues.

“We are all about giving back, we don’t keep the money, we put it back in the public,” Kipling said. “We are about to give away quite a few thousand dollars come September to a bunch of organizations in Ishpeming. We are making up our wishlist right now and we have raised all this money throughout the year. Now it is time to put it into the community.”

To become a member of the Ishpeming Lions Club, or to find out how to join other local Lions clubs, call Kipling at 906-250-9672.

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is aanderson@miningjournal.net.