Who We Are
Compassion led
We are Dakota Lions Sight & Health. And as the only nonprofit eye and tissue bank locally based in the Dakotas, we work closely with healthcare providers in our communities to recover and distribute safe, quality tissues to those in need. Our service area encompasses the states of South Dakota, North Dakota, northern Nebraska, and western Minnesota.
OUR MISSION
To help enable the restoration of the gifts of sight and health.
Championed by Lions.
Lions Club members are our eye and tissue donation ambassadors. Their fundraising and volunteer efforts throughout their communities are what help drive our nonprofit programs forward.
Guided by hearts & strategic minds.
A nonprofit’s success hinges on mission-focused leadership. Meet the board members and medical directors who lead the way.
A history of commitment.
1925
Helen Keller challenged Lions Club members to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”
Mid-1960s
Regulations for eye banking were just starting to emerge, and funeral directors, doctors, and nurses often recovered the eyes from donors. Lions Clubs members then transported ocular tissue to the state border for further transport to established eye banks.
1990
The Lions Clubs of South Dakota established a task force that would work to establish a fully functioning eye bank in South Dakota.
1991
The South Dakota Lions Eye Bank officially opened and placed 99 corneas for transplant by the end of the year.
2010
The state-of-the-art Sioux Falls facility was completed, featuring a dedicated laboratory, two surgical recovery suites, in-house instrument sterilization, and sufficient space to house all organizational activities. The name was officially changed to South Dakota Lions Eye & Tissue Bank.
2016
The South Dakota Lions Eye & Tissue Bank and Lions Eye Bank of North Dakota became a single, unified organization — Dakota Lions Sight & Health — to better serve the people of the Dakota region.