MOSES LAKE - Members of the Moses Lake Lions chapter set out Friday and Saturday, collecting money to help people who have vision and hearing disabilities, and raising awareness about the diseases and their effects.

The money from the White Cane Days will go to support Lions Club efforts for people with sight and hearing disabilities, which is one of the Lions' focus areas.

Lions members were outside the post office as well as local businesses, taking donations and handing out information and miniature white canes. The white cane was designed to help blind and vision-impaired people (and was a Lions innovation, according to information from the Lions Club).

The money raised through White Cane Days helps pay for Lions projects, and local Lions clubs work to keep it local, said former Lions chapter president (and Columbia Basin Herald publisher) Harlan Beagley. "We try to keep the money local and provide eyeglasses and hearing aids for folks who might not otherwise be able to afford them," Beagley said.

Some of the money raised through White Cane Days goes to support the Lions Foundation, which funds projects at the local and statewide levels.

The Lions Patient Care program matches funds raised by the local chapters to provide services and equipment for people with vision and hearing disabilities, a Lions press release said. The Lions Special Project grant program works with other community organizations to provide money for hearing and vision-related projects. The foundation also helps pay for the vision and hearing screening van (Lions Health Screening unit) that travels the state and northern Idaho giving free screenings for vision, hearing, glaucoma, diabetes and blood pressure.