Lions World Vision Institute

04/23/2026

💚💙 Remembering & Honoring Donor Families 💚💙

Behind every donor story is a family that chose courage and selflessness during a time of intense grief and loss. Join Lions World Vision Institute in remembering, honoring, and spreading awareness all month long during Donate Life Month.

Bill and Chris Hankee have spent the past 19 years honoring their daughter Krysta’s legacy—turning heartbreak into purpose by advocating for organ, eye, and tissue donation.

Their ongoing advocacy continues to give others a second chance at life, a living reflection of love that never fades in honor of the incredible young woman they raised.

🌐To learn more about how Lions World Vision Institute is spreading hope and inspiring change during Donate Life Month, please visit: https://lwvi.org/donate-life

The Krysta Hankee Memorial Fund's “Miles That Matter” program has provided over 3.7 million miles of transportation to help families get to vital medical care. The nonprofit has also given over $187,100 in scholarships to students pursuing higher education.

💙💚To learn more about The Krysta Hankee Memorial Fund, please visit: https://www.krystahankeememorialfund.org

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04/22/2026

💙🐾💚LWVI Pets Celebrating Donate Life Month💙🐾💚

Last week, the Lions World Vision Institute team dressed their pets in blue and green to raise awareness for organ, eye, and tissue donation during Donate Life Month!

If you're pets are wearing blue and green this month, we’d love to see your photos—please share them with us in the comments below! 📸🐶🐱

🌐To learn more about how Lions World Vision Institute is spreading hope and inspiring change during Donate Life Month, please visit: https://lwvi.org/donate-life

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04/21/2026

🌸 LWVI Women of Vision Founding Member Spotlight 🌸

Lions World Vision Institute's giving circle Women of Vision is dedicated to advancing pediatric eye care and expanding access through the Vision Health Center.

We’re honored to recognize Betty Viamontes as a Founding Member behind this powerful initiative! 👏👏👏

When asked about her connection to this extraordinary movement, Betty said, "Eye conditions are often treatable if identified early. Good vision directly affects a child’s ability to learn, their social development, confidence, and long-term earning potential. Restoring sight is not just medical — it transforms a life trajectory."

Betty's generosity and support will fuel our Vision Health Programs for generations to come, ensuring children and families receive critical screenings, eye exams, and life-changing vision care.

Thank you to Betty for your leadership and for being an integral part of our mission! ❤️

🌐For more information on how you can support LWVI's mission, please visit https://lwvi.org/support-our-mission

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04/20/2026

📣Lions World Vision Institute will be attending Life Science Washington's Life Science Innovation Northwest (LSINW) conference on Tuesday, April 21!

The team will be presenting on LWVI’s Innovations such as cornea dissection and transplant techniques and instrumentation, and ocular research services. 🔬👀

We will also be chatting about LWVI's new 30,000-square-foot Vision Health Center, scheduled to open Spring 2027 in Tampa, FL, that will bring comprehensive vision services together under one roof, including screenings, diagnostics, treatment, and community-based programs for children and individuals who too often face barriers to accessing essential vision health services.

As active members of Life Science Washington, the LWVI team will also be sharing some exciting updates about our new office and laboratory located in Seattle, WA! LWVI's west coast location includes new capabilities such as research, tissue evaluation, tissue processing, and distribution.

🌐To learn more about LWVI's mission to elevate standards in sight restoration, tissue transplantation, research, and education, please visit: https://lwvi.org

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04/20/2026

🚗 Thank You for Supporting Sight and Changing Lives! 🚗

At Lions World Vision Institute, we are so thankful to our friends Scott and Kathy Fink, along with Fink Five Foundation and Subaru of Wesley Chapel, for their incredibly generous donation of a 2026 Subaru Crosstrek!

This donation is so much more than a vehicle. For the team at LWVI, this Subaru of America, Inc. Crosstrek means:
🔹Safe and efficient transportation of tissue to recipients awaiting the gift of sight.
🔹Hope and healing for visually impaired children through cornea and tissue transplantation.
🔹Honoring a donor’s gift by protecting and supporting sight restoration for hundreds of thousands of people.

Thank you Scott and Kathy Fink, Fink Five Foundation, and Subaru of Wesley Chapel for supporting LWVI to elevate standards in sight restoration, tissue transplantation, research, and education.

Together, we are transforming lives. So the world can see.

🌐For more about LWVI's mission, please visit: https://lwvi.org/

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04/17/2026

👓 Free Community Vision Clinic! 👓

Lions World Vision Institute’s Mobile Vision Clinic will be on site at North Brandon Family YMCA for Healthy Kids Day from 10am-1pm this Saturday, April 18 providing vision screenings, eye exams, and free glasses! This Mobile Vision Clinic is free for children and adolescents ages 5-17. 👀

Healthy Kids Day is the The Y’s national initiative to improve the health and well-being of kids and families. For over 30 years, YMCAs and their communities hosted free community events aimed to inspire kids and families to keep their minds and bodies active throughout the summer months and beyond. 🌞🌞🌞

🌐For more information, visit https://lwvi.org/event/brandon-ymca-vision-clinic

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04/16/2026

📣 Healthcare Partner Shoutout 📣

At Lions World Vision Institute, we proudly join communities across the country in observing National Donate Life Month this April. 💚💙

Last week, the team LWVI team attended Flag Raising ceremonies in honor of Donate Life Month with Providence Swedish, Providence Swedish, as well as our agency partners LifeCenter Northwest and LifeNet Health.

Our donor champion Nate Wagner with PSPH helped hoist the flag in pouring rain and then led an intimate ceremony highlighting the history of Donate Life Month and Providence St. Peter’s metrics for organ, tissue, and cornea donation.

In 2025, Providence Swedish had 124 cornea donors and 242 corneas donated and Providence Swedish had 13 cornea donors and 26 corneas donated.

This partnership is a meaningful reminder of the impact of collaboration in enhancing and healing lives through donation. 👏👏👏

We are grateful for LWVI's continued partnership with Providence Hospitals, LifeCenter Northwest, and LifeNet Health, along with their dedicated teams who make donation possible every day.

🌐To learn more about Lions World Vision Institute during Donate Life Month, please visit: https://lwvi.org/donate-life

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04/15/2026

Lions World Vision Institute is excited to be heading to Florence, Italy for and look forward to connecting with colleagues from around the world! 🤝

Jeremy Shuman, International Business Development Manager with LWVI, will be attending The 3rd World Keratoconus Congress and available to discuss OptiGraft® CAIRS - advanced CAIRS to promote improved outcomes. 👁️👁️👁️

This annual scientific gathering of keratoconus experts from around the world will take place in Florence from April 16-18.

Stop by to say hello to Jeremy and learn more about precision laser shaped OptiGraft® CAIRS!

🌐To learn more about Corneal Allogenic Ring Segments (CAIRS), please visit: https://lwvi.org/sterile-tissue-services/cairs-corneal-allogenic-ring-segments/

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04/14/2026

📣 Thank You for an Amazing Weekend at ASCRS! 📣

Lions World Vision Institute had an amazing weekend at American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) in Washington, D.C. offering hands-on wet lab training in TransplantREADY® Endo-In DMEK, DSAEK and OptiGraft® CAIRS for keratoconus and complex lamellar procedures.

We are also honored to announce that Dr. Leonard Heydenrych was awarded best paper for his presentation on TransplantREADY® Endo-In DMEK! 👏👏👏

Thank you to our surgeon faculty, Dr. Benjamin Lambright, Dr. Leonard Heydenrych, Dr. Aazim Siddiqui, Dr. Logan Vander Woude, Dr. Leonid Zukin, and Dr. Elina Minkhuzina for sharing their surgical pearls and expertise.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to have met so many talented surgeons from across the globe at !

🌐To learn more about LWVI's upcoming Surgeon Training and Events, please visit: https://lwvi.org/events-training/

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04/10/2026

04/10/2026

💙💚Today We Wear Blue & Green💙💚

National Donate Life Blue & Green Day is part of Donate Life America’s National Donate Life Month — observed on the second Friday of April each year.

The team at Lions World Vision Institute proudly wore our blue and green today across all LWVI campuses. As an organization, our mission is to elevate standards in sight restoration, tissue transplantation, research, and education.

This year’s Donate Life Month theme is Leave a Legacy. It reminds us that just like trees, our donation community grows stronger together connecting donors, recipients, and families in ways that last for generations. 🌳🌲🌴

More than 100,000 people are waiting for a lifesaving transplant. Transplants rely on the generosity of organ, eye and tissue donors, and there are not enough donors to meet the need.

If you're wearing blue and green today, we’d love to see your photos—please share them with us in the comments below! 📸💚💙

🌐To learn more about how Lions World Vision Institute is spreading hope and inspiring change during Donate Life Month, please visit: https://lwvi.org/donate-life/

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04/10/2026

We’re at in Washington, D.C.—and ready to connect with cornea surgeons! ⭐April 10–12 | Exhibit # 2133⭐

The Lions World Vision Institute team is on-site and offering hands-on training in:
🔬 TransplantREADY® Endo-In DMEK & DSAEK
🔬 OptiGraft® CAIRS for keratoconus and complex lamellar procedures

Learn side-by-side with leading experts:
Dr. Benjamin Lambright
Dr. Leonard Heydenrych

Experience advanced techniques, refine your skills, and see how our innovations are designed to support precision and reproducibility in every case.

Stop by Booth #2133 or register NOW to secure your wet lab spot—space is limited. 👉👉👉 Register today: https://lwvi.org/ascrs-wet-lab-registration

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