Donating Eyeglasses
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Oct 2012
Is there a place that accepts used glasses? Judy
You can donate used glasses to UC Berkeley School of Optometry. The students take them to countries where people have poor access to eyecare and give free exams and distribute them to people who otherwise would not be able to see correctly! Great idea/great cause
The El Cerrito Recycling Center at the end of Schmidt Ln. has a collection box set up by the Lions Club (I think). It's located in the area where the book exchange is. EC recycling fan
Sept 2009
Hi. Does anyone know of a place to donate used eye glasses? thanks betty
The Limited is actually running an in-store eyewear collection drive through September 21. Bring in your glasses and they'll donate them to charity and give you a coupon for a discount on a future purchase at The Limited.
Other options: The Lions Club (www.lionsclubs.org) Recycle for Sight program; LensCrafters (www.lenscrafters.com) and Pearle Vision (www.pearlevision.com) accept used glasses at their locations for donation to those in need, too. Done with Glasses
I donate all of mine to the Lions Foundation. They will also take broken glasses. The address to send them to is: Lions InSight Warehouse, 1404 Lemon St., Vallejo, Ca 94590 'Eye' been there
Eyeglasses can be donated to the Lions Club. They send them to people in developing countries. www.lionsclub.org http://donateglasses.org/ krista
The Lion's Club collects old eyeglasses and passes them on. They have donation boxes in the Mechanics Bank lobbies. There are a number of branches in Berkeley, and also throughout the area. If that's inconvenient, you could also call the Lion's Club and ask where else they have the boxes. Karen
LensCrafters takes them. Took mine there.
You can drop off old eyeglasses at the trailer at the El Cerrito Recycling Center. Either the Lions' Club or the Rotary Club collects them and donates them to people in developing countries that need eyeglasses.
The Lyons Club usually takes donations of old eyeglasses. Check out your local chapter. An optometrist's daughter
Sept 2001
I have no less than 4 pairs of old eyeglasses. Is anyone aware of organizations that can actually use this type of donation? Daphne
I have donated numerous pairs to Dr. Woodring, on Solano Avenue. He's associated with a UCB program that travels to central america to offer testing and distribution of eye glasses. (He's also a very fine optometrist.) Sarah
Apparently Lenscrafters has a foundation that donates used eyeglasses to persons without access to eyecare both here and abroad. You should contact them for any further information, but I believe they have boxes in each Lenscrafters store where you can donate used glasses. rooghe
I take my used eyeglasses to my optometrist's office which is Berkeley Optometric Group on 2414 Shattuck in Berkeley for re-use. I can't remember where they forward them on to but you can contact them at 843-1228 to find out. Lorraine
The El Cerrito Recycling Center on Schmidt Ave. in El Cerrito collects eye glasses to send overseas. The collection box is in their small office, not an outside bin, so you'd need to do a drop off during regular work hours (which includes weekend hours). I don't know whether other recycling centers accept eye glasses as well. npg
donate your used eyeglasses to the UC Berkeley School of Optometry on campus. VOSH (volunteer optometric services to humanity -- or something like that) can use them on their trips to various needy countries where the students provide exams and glasses to those who cannot get them normally. suzie
My optometrist, Aaron Thornton on Fruitvale Avenue, told me he will take my old eyeglasses (I have every pair since I started wearing glasses at age 10!). He also told me that Lyons Center for the Blind will take them. Jody
I know that there is an organization, it may be the Lion's Club. I just can't recall. Give them or Dr. Larry Harrison in Berkeley a call. He is an optometrist who collects used specs for some organization. Marianne
I am responding to Daphne about who can use old eyeglasses. The Lions Club (800-74-SIGHT) or LensCrafters store will accept these and then donate them to developing countries for someone in need. Trish