OTHER NEWS
Lions Eye Bank to build green building through community appeal

By Amy Smolik
Marketing & Communications Manager

The gift of sight for thousands of people worldwide begins in an old home on W. 22nd Street that currently houses the South Dakota Lions Eye Bank. A business expansion in the central Sioux Falls neighborhood is forcing the eye bank to relocate by 2010.

To accommodate the need for additional space and the relocation, the South Dakota Lions Eye Bank will be b uilding a new, 16,000 sq. ft. facility near the junction of Interstates 29 and 90 and the Sioux Falls Regional Airport. This new facility, which is a $3.4 million project, will help the South Dakota Lions Eye Bank to fully serve those in need of eye and tissue transplants and to advance the recovery service program. The eye bank hopes to raise $800,000 from the business community as part of the Chamber-approved Community Appeals campaign. The campaign kicked off April 1 and runs until July 31, 2009.

The new building will be open in 2010 and is expected to be a green-certified building when completed. The design includes an environmentally-friendly roof, geo-thermal heating and cooling, temperature controlled environments, landscaping with natural grasses and used gray and rain water for irrigation. When completed, it will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified platinum, which is the highest ranking available from the U.S. Green Building Council.

South Dakota Lions Eye Bank Executive Director Christine Belitz said the new building will be friendly to the environment and ensure that more funds go directly to programs rather than to maintenance and power over time.

The eye bank facilitates numerous ways for people to donate organs. It recovers donor tissues, evaluates and places corneas for transplant to waiting recipients. Since its inception in 1991, more than 3,000 individuals have received the gift of sight through the generosity of South Dakota families, Belitz said. The new location will allow for enough space to increase grant, eye and tissue research projects, as well as storage for all medical instruments and supplies involved with processing and recovery procedures.

The Spirit of the North Tissue Services, a division of the South Dakota Lions Eye Bank, has improved the lives of an estimated 15,000 people by providing high quality donor tissue for transplantation. Since 2001, the South Dakota Lions Eye Bank has transplanted 1,195 corneas, with 949 transplanted in the United States and 699 transplanted overseas. Currently, the eye bank provides eye and tissue donation services to a total of 97 hospitals in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska. The headquarters are in Sioux Falls with satellite offices in Aberdeen and Rapid City. These satellite locations allow for quicker response times to a very broad service area.

Belitz said 100,000 people nationwide are waiting for organ transplants, including nearly 2,500 people in the Sioux Falls area. The option of donation is available to both men and women, up to the age of 95. Through the South Dakota Lions Eye Bank, donors can provide the gift of sight and health through the donation of bone, connective tissue, heart valves, veins, skin and corneas.

"We try to keep donation in front of the public and to remind people to put 'D' for donor on their drivers licenses," Belitz said.

Eventually, Belitz envisions a memorial park to recognize all of the South Dakota donors who have helped enhance the lives of others through their donations to the South Dakota Lions Eye Bank and Spirit of the North Tissue Service.

Funds for the new facility have also been raised from past financial contributors, donor families, transplant recipients, the medical community and the Lions Clubs of South Dakota. For more information about the campaign or to make a donation, contact Belitz at (605) 373-1008.

South Dakota Lions Eye Bank Community Appeal
April 1-July 31, 2009
$800,000

Campaign Cabinet:
Al Schock, Nordica International, Inc.
Henry Carlson, Henry Carlson Co.
Dave Fleck, Sioux Falls Construction Co.
Chris Dunham, Dunham, Co. Real Estate
Ernie Carlsen, Land Title Guaranty Co.
Meredith Larson, Henry Carlson Co.
Jeff Nelson, Baldridge & Nelson Architects & Engineers
Richard Tschetter, M.D. Opthamology Ltd.
Roger Braaten, Midwest Partners Federal Credit Union
Paul Bruflat, CNA Surety
Matt Jensen, Vance Thompson Vision
Richard Moe, May, Johnson Attorneys
David Larson, Kreisers

Leadership Team:
Pat Booth, Midcontinent Media, Inc.
Don Bradley, retired, donor family member
Bob Dolan, retired educator
Marlys Fischer, KSFY Television
Mary Ellen Maxwell, HJN Team Real Estate
Bob Schmidt, Farmer Feed Co., donor family member