Eye Tissue Transportation
Transporters of Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin (LEBW) transport boxes of eye tissue from various pick up and drop off locations. This system has been coined ‘The Corneal Express’, because the transporters relay the boxes of tissue from the various pickup/drop off locations to the LEBW office in Madison, Wisconsin, or outbound to surgery centers. This is for both incoming tissue (tissue coming from various locations in the state to LEBW) or outgoing tissue, meaning tissue that is being sent from LEBW to surgery centers (ready for transplant).
The transporters from the Plymouth Lions Club are part of an area phone chain and can be contacted at any time, day or night. Our club is the primary point of contact for the months of July and December, and provide backup support the months of August and February. We typically pick up tissue at St. Nicolas or Aurora Hospitals in Sheboygan, then transport the tissue to the State Patrol headquarters in Fond du Lac. From there, a member from a different Lions Club will take the tissue and continue on the next leg of the journey, eventually arriving at the Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin.
The Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to restoring sight through the recovery and transplantation of corneal tissue. LEBW provides 100% of Wisconsin’s corneal surgery needs for corneal transplant surgeons throughout the state; no cornea leaves the state until every Wisconsin patient’s needs are accounted for.
Every step of the donation process committed through Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin is 100 percent non-profit, from recovery to transplant. The altruistic spirit of the gift of donation is protected and handled with the utmost respect.
Through LEBW’s cooperative relationships with other non-profit eye banks, Wisconsin residents also support not only regional domestic efforts, but also international initiatives as well. Global blindness is something that is important to all of us.
Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin is one of the highest performing eye banks in the nation, something Wisconsinites can take pride in. We take your donation of corneas and other ocular tissue very seriously, and strive to ensure placement for transplant, focusing first in Wisconsin. Wisconsin patients are our top priority.
LEBW’s ultimate goal is to improve people’s quality of life through the Gift of Sight, and the Plymouth Lions Club has been a proud contributor to this life changing cause.