Proceeds from a breakfast in Packwood this weekend will be used to fund research the Iowa Lions Eyebank is conducting. Executive director of the eyebank, Cindy Reed, says they’re the only agency in Iowa that recovers donated cornea tissue and prepares it for transplant.

Reed shares there are 10 million people in the world that are blind due to problems with their corneas. In the United States, there are 52,000 cornea replacements every year, with 350 of those done here in Iowa.

06Reed says a research program that recently began is looking at ways to tell with certainty if the procedure will help an individual regain sight. The Packwood Lions breakfast is on Saturday from 7 to 9am at the Packwood Community Center.