Karen MacDonald, Associate Dean of Health Sciences (left) and student Maurice Rondelez (right) accept a cheque from the Lions Club of Barrie at the Barrie Campus of Georgian College.
Georgian College is one step closer to building the Georgian Centre for Health and Wellness thanks to the vision and support of the Lions Club of Barrie. Members of the volunteer service organization recently announced a $250,000 donation to the project. The monies will be directed specifically to help build a community-accessible opticianry health teaching clinic in the proposed new facility.
“The Lions have an international mandate to stand behind initiatives that work to end preventable blindness, and we believe this donation will help countless numbers of local students and residents in need of quality and affordable vision health care,” said Carol Ellis, Lions Club of Barrie president. “It will also give students a leading-edge environment to learn in, with the benefit of working on real patients. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”
The clinic will also offer the services of an on-site optometrist and optician, and storefront that retails eye wear and offers eye wear consultations.
This will be one of a number of teaching health clinics available in the Georgian Centre for Health and Wellness, a 165,000-square-foot addition planned for the Barrie Campus.
And thanks to a $15,000 donation from the Lions Club of Barrie in 2008, Georgian College Opticianry students are eligible to apply for an award or scholarship to help fund their education. The donated funds were set up as an endowment through the Georgian College Awards and Scholarship program, with the interest being distributed to deserving students.
The donation was made in memory of long-time Barrie optometrist and Lions Club of Barrie member Dr. Noel G. Stephenson.
These donations benefit Georgian’s Power of Education fundraising campaign, an initiative to raise $25 million for the expansion and improvement of key Georgian programs including those in health sciences, hospitality and tourism, engineering technology and awards and scholarships.
To date, Georgian is more than halfway to its $25-million goal.
