FOR A GOOD CAUSE -- Marian Perrin

Jenifer Ragland

Every year, school nurses are charged with the formidable task of

performing hearing and vision screenings on all kindergartners and

students in the second, fifth, eighth and tenth grades. That means either

dragging them into the nurse’s office one by one, or holding large

assemblies in noisy and distracting places like the gymnasium or

cafeteria.

So you can imagine how grateful Newport-Mesa Unified School District

nurses are to have Marian Perrin. A volunteer with the Harbor-Mesa Lions

Club, Perrin helped to create a program through the Lions Club Sight and

Hearing Foundation that helps do the screenings at 28 area schools during

two months in the fall.

Perrin, who has lived in Newport Beach for 45 years and been a member of

the Lions Club for almost just as long, said she saw the need for the

program after retiring as director of purchasing from Coast Community

College District in 1982. She had a friend who was involved with the

school district and together they got it started.

“Lions Clubs all over do vision and hearing screening, but the school

program is the Harbor-Mesa club’s community service project,” she said.

“I like community service, and I enjoy being here around the nurses.”

The Sight and Hearing Foundation mobile unit is a 1996 Winnebago that was

purchased with $50,000 raised by the foundation, and matching funds from

Lions Club International. It is equipped to screen for basic vision and

hearing problems in adults and children. There is also equipment to test

for glaucoma on adults.

The unit parks on school campuses, and children are filed through for

screenings at no cost to the district. Nurses at the host school and

other nurses from the district are on-hand to help.

“It certainly makes our jobs a lot easier to have the van,” said Nurse

Carolyn Robinson.

“You can bring in eight children at a time so they can all hear the

instructions, and it’s much faster,” said Kaiser Primary Center nurse

Camille Catania.

“Plus, the kids love it,” Perrin said. “They think it’s a space ship.”

When the unit is not being used at schools, it is mainly used at

community events to provide free vision and hearing screenings. It is

probably best known for being a part of the Lions Club annual Fish Fry in

Costa Mesa.

For the schools program, Perrin makes all the arrangements for the unit

and the drivers, who also are Lions Club volunteers. She also makes sure

the van is kept clean and has a place to be stored.

She used to work with the nurses to screen the kids, but stopped last

year because she said she kept catching the flu from the kids. But she

said she still enjoys helping to make the program a reality.

“It is so much appreciated by the school district,” Perrin said. “That’s

all we need to make it worthwhile.”

FOR A GOOD CAUSE features people who do good in the community. To submit

story suggestions, call (949) 574-4233 or send e-mail to

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