Published on Monday, August 18, 2025 in Blog
We believe in the power of donation to save and enhance lives — whether that’s through blood, platelets, plasma, or the gift of sight. Every day, we are inspired by partners who share our commitment to healing and helping others. That’s why we’re proud to collaborate with the Iowa Lions Eye Bank. We had the chance to sit down and learn more about what they do. Read the interview below, and register to donate blood at their upcoming blood drive.
Interview With Iowa Lions Eye Bank
What is the Iowa Lions Eye Bank?
Iowa Lions Eye Bank (ILEB) is an organization that facilitates the gift of sight through the donation of corneas and eyes upon an individual’s death. ILEB specializes in recovering, evaluating, processing, and distributing ocular tissue for use in life-changing corneal transplants, groundbreaking research and training the next generation of health professionals. We also honor the eye donor; support grieving donor families; build partnerships with hospitals, funeral homes, hospices, medical examiners and coroners, and other community organizations to help us fulfill our mission; and educate the public on the work of Iowa Lions Eye Bank and the importance of registering as a donor. As the only eye bank in Iowa, we serve all 99 counties in the state; however, our impact spans the globe. Proudly affiliated with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at University of Iowa Health Care since our founding in 1955, we’re committed to advancing vision care and inspiring hope for a brighter future.
What is the mission of Iowa Lions Eye Bank?
The mission of Iowa Lions Eye Bank is to enhance the quality of life through the restoration and preservation of sight.
How does ILEB carry out the mission on a day-to-day basis?
Preventing blindness and preserving and restoring sight are at the core of everything we do each day at ILEB. We take a multifaceted approach to fulfilling our mission by recovering ocular tissue, evaluating its suitability, and distributing it to surgeons in Iowa and around the world. Our staff conducts cutting-edge research into corneal disorders and treatments, with the goal of perfecting and ultimately preventing corneal transplantations. ILEB also supplies ocular tissue to researchers working to develop therapies and cures for other blinding eye diseases. In addition, ILEB raises awareness about eye donation through community events and campaigns, educates healthcare professionals and the public on the importance of donation, hosts donor tributes and facilitates correspondence between donor families and recipients that often brings healing and gratitude.
ILEB works with a number of community partners to accomplish our mission. Iowa Donor Network serves as our referral center, while members of several Lions Clubs of Iowa volunteer to transport recovered tissue from the western side of the state to our headquarters in Coralville and help carry transplant-ready corneal tissue processed at ILEB to surgeons at several Iowa facilities.
How many people did ILEB help restore sight for in 2024?
In 2024, 1,020 generous Iowa donors gave the gift of sight. ILEB then distributed this tissue to surgeons, researchers and medical professionals for use in transplantation, research or training. ILEB also works with partner eye banks around the United States to process and distribute tissue recovered in other states. In 2024, 835 individuals received sight-restoring corneal transplants from tissue distributed via Iowa Lions Eye Bank.
How does ILEB facilitate restoring someone’s sight?
ILEB carefully recovers and evaluates ocular tissue from deceased donors and prepares it for transplant, making sure it meets rigorous regulatory standards and the specifications of the transplanting surgeon. We then distribute the tissue to surgeons in Iowa, across the United States and around the world. Corneal transplants replace damaged or diseased corneas with healthy donor tissue. It's one of the most successful transplant procedures, with over 95% success rates.
What is so important about the cornea?
The cornea is often described as the “windshield” of the eye. It is responsible for about 70 percent of a person’s vision. It refracts, or bends, light coming into the eye so it can be focused by the lens onto the retina. The cornea protects the eye from dust, germs and harmful UV rays. A healthy cornea is dome-shaped, clear, about the size of a dime and the thickness of a piece of plastic wrap. It is the only tissue in the body that is avascular and not connected to any blood cells. Damage or disease can distort the cornea’s shape and affect its cellular makeup, leading to blurry or impaired vision, pain and the need for a corneal transplant to restore sight.
Why did ILEB decide to host a blood drive?
Both ILEB and ImpactLife are committed to healing through anatomical donation. Hosting a blood drive allows us to further enhance the community’s quality of life.
What is ILEB looking to get out of hosting a blood drive?
We want to help our partners at Impact Life and those in need of life-saving blood products. We also hope to join Impact Life to raise awareness of the importance of anatomical donation, whether it be eye donation, blood donation, organ donation or tissue donation. People should be aware that all types of anatomical donations can enhance and prolong a person’s quality of life.
Interesting fact: Although corneas are avascular and do not require blood matching for transplantation, a blood sample is still collected at the time of eye donation for testing to check for certain infectious diseases that may preclude transplantation or endanger those handling the tissue. These serological results are evaluated at Iowa Lions Eye Bank before any processing or distribution of ocular tissue can occur. So, blood still plays a vital role in our work.
How can other members of the community support ILEB?
Make plans to be an eye, organ and tissue donor! The easiest way is to sign up for the Iowa donor registry when you get your driver’s licenses… in fact, more than 90 percent of Iowans register this way. If you are registered, there will be a heart with the word “Donor” or the word “Donor” with the letter “Y” on your license, indicating your intent to be a donor. Another way to register is when you get a hunting, fishing or trapping license in the state of Iowa, or by registering online at iowalionseyebank.org.
Many people are unaware, however, that donor registration status only is checked if someone passes away in a hospital. All hospitals are required by federal law to report any deaths that occur in their facilities to the state’s organ procurement organization. In Iowa’s case, that is Iowa Donor Network. Iowa Donor Network checks if a person is registered or not. Even if they are not registered, donation can still proceed if their next of kin consents. For eye donation, the next of kin will need to answer medical and social history questions about the deceased to determine if their loved one is still eligible for donation.
If a person passes away in a non-hospital setting, anyone can report the death to Iowa Donor Network at 1-800-831-4131. We ask that this referral be made within 1-2 hours of death, because corneas must be recovered within the first 24 hours of death, preferably within the first 12 hours.
We ask that Iowans make plans well in advance of their deaths; let your loved ones know you want to be a donor. Make sure you are on the donor registry. Make sure someone is designated to make a referral call if you do pass away somewhere other than a hospital. And do not rule yourself out for donation if you think you are too sick or have terrible eyesight. There are very few reasons that cornea donation would not be able to proceed. We ask that you let the donation professionals make that determination.
Find out more ways to help Iowa Lions Eye Bank at iowalionseyebank.org/contribute.