PRESS RELEASE
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Nicole Plegge, Public Relations Specialist
Phone: 314.428.4373 x 115

Donation Helps Eye Bank Restore Sight to Cornea Recipients Worldwide

Grin Eye Care Donates $7,500 in Surgical Equipment to Heartland Lions Eye Banks

Columbia, Mo. (February 26, 2009) – When pre-cutting tissue for cornea transplants, having the best equipment available at all times is critical. Thanks to a generous donation from Dr. Milton Grin and Grin Eye Care in Olathe, Kan., the Heartland Lions Eye Banks has the resources available to continually meet the needs of cornea surgeons and their patients.

In February 2009, Dr. Grin donated a Moria Evolution 2 control unit to the Kansas City Eye Bank. This unit, valued at approximately $7,500, controls the operation of the microkeratome hand piece, a precision surgical instrument that allows the Eye Bank to pre-cut donated cornea tissue for Descemet's Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSAEK) surgery.

Said Tony Bavuso, Chief Operating Officer of the Eye Bank, "Up to this point, we only had one control unit. If the unit malfunctioned or was sent in for annual service, we had to put DSAEK tissue pre-cutting on hold until we received a loaner unit. Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Grin, now we'll always have a backup unit on hand, allowing us to continually provide pre-cutting services without interruption.

The Heartland Lions Eye Banks is a division of the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation; a 501c(3) organization with the mission to preserve and restore the sight of people throughout Missouri and around the world. The Eye Bank operates seven branches throughout Missouri, Kansas and Illinois with headquarters in Columbia, Missouri. HLEB is the fourth largest eye bank in the U.S. and offers high quality donor cornea tissue to transplant surgeons around the world. In addition the Eye Bank is committed to research for causes and cures for eye diseases.

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