Collaborative Partners
Through collaborations with not-for-profits, LCIF leverages its resources and accomplishes much more than it could on its own. Major collaborative partners are:

The Carter Center
LCIF has awarded the Carter Center more than US$38 million (and other non-profits US$5.5 million) to prevent river blindness in Latin America and Africa. So far, 114 million treatments of Mectizan have been delivered. The eradication of the disease in Latin America is possible by 2010. LCIF also is partnering with the Carter Center to battle trachoma in three nations.

Habitat for Humanity International
In 1999, LCIF began a partnership with Habitat and committed US$12 million to build homes for people with disabilities. A total of 990 homes have been built or approved for construction so far. The program is currently operating on an extension and will last until all of the funding is fully expended. Countries (where Lions-Habitat home constructions have taken place: Canada, Korea, Poland, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Philippines, Hungary, United States and Romania, to name a few.

Special Olympics
The Special Olympics-Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes Program began with the approval of a US$3.28 million grant to Special Olympics in September 2000. A second grant, in the amount of US$2 million, was awarded in April 2003 to extend the partnership. At the October 2004 Board of Trustees meeting, a US$3.85 million grant was approved to extend the partnership for 30 additional months. The grant funds 270 Opening Eyes screening events worldwide with volunteer support from several thousand Lions clubs. At the October 2007 Board of Trustees meeting, an additional grant for US$1 million was approved to extend the partnership one-year to December 2008. Since the program’s inception, more than 100,000 athletes have been screened with prescription eyewear provided to more than 44,000 athletes. To date, LCIF has awarded US$10.13 million to Special Olympics for the Opening Eyes program.

Corporate Partners
LCIF is grateful for the generosity of its corporate partners. They share not just funds but a spirit of humanitarianism and a dedication to improve the lives of the needy. Thanks to these partners, LCIF has been able to expand programs, establish new initiatives and extend its service to others. Major corporate partners are:

Allergan
Allergan has been collaborating with LCIF for a number of years, with particular interest in glaucoma. Allergan provided US$50,000 to LCIF for the update of the Lions Eye Health Program materials in 2003. Recently, they awarded US$75,000 to carry out 10 glaucoma screenings in high-risk populations in the United States to develop the All Eyes on the Family program with LCIF.

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
US$150,000 for the Lions' health education activities in Mali and Niger as part of the West African Water Initiative. The five-year grant helps Lions mobilize political will, increase the effectiveness of health education and enhance trachoma control activities.

Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly donated US$225,000 for the Lions Eye Health program to update program materials, support eye screenings and promote eye health public awareness initiatives.

Johnson and Johnson Asia and Corporate
Johnson & Johnson has committed US$1.035 million to help fund Sight for Kids screenings in Korea, MD 300 Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, the Philippines and Latin America. Sight for Kids involves eye health awareness, education and children's eye screening. The screenings are coordinated by local Lions, Johnson & Johnson staff and local medical personnel.

Lavelle Fund for the Blind, Inc.
US$125,206 to provide manpower and management training to eye hospitals in developing nations.

LensCrafters
US$334,550 of in-kind services to Lions to provide eyeglasses to those in need.

Merck & Co., Inc.
More than US$1 million of donated Mectizan to prevent river blindness in Latin America and Africa.

Essilor of America
Essilor is assisting the Lions with equipment and training for the establishment of Lions lens finishing labs. Essilor will supply lenses and lab equipment at cost, assist in training Lions volunteers on how to make new glasses, help secure frame vendors, and find customers to purchase recycled materials from Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centers. 

Government Partners

National Eye Institute
The National Eye Institute contributed US$300,000 to collaborate and together with LCIF co-sponsor a survey in 1991 and again in 2005 to benchmark the American public’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards eye health and disease.

Organization of American States’s Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)
In April 2005, LCIF and CICAD signed a partnership agreement to collaborate for five years to promote Lions Quest pilot programs throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. To date, funds have been invested in Belize, Colombia, Peru and Paraguay and tentative commitments have been reached to support new activity in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico and several island nations of the Caribbean. CICAD's financial support generally runs approximately US$100,000 per country to be disbursed over a three-year period. CICAD expects to invest about US$1.5 million in Lions Quest programs in the region between 2005 and 2010. 

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
US$100,000 for Lions-led vocational training programs in Brazil and Sri Lanka. US$50,000 for Lions Quest in South Africa and Malawi . US$150,000 for Lions-led youth vocational programs in South Africa (in cooperation with the International Youth Foundation).

U.S. State Department
US$575,680 allocated over five years to support Lions Quest pilot programs in the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Lebanon and Hungary. Lions Quest recently received a commitment for over $1 million as a subcontract with the State Department for work in Eastern Europe.