Lions Club Member Sets Sight on Vision Charity

A Seminole Chronicle Article

By Marisa Ramiccio | September 13, 2012 

Oviedo-Winter Springs Lions Club
Chairman Paul Schwimmer,
partnered with Cindy Shadron,
Executive Director of
The Forgotten Ones,Inc.

When Oviedo-Winter Springs Lions Club chairman Paul Schwimmer began collecting eyeglasses and setting up eye exams for the sight-impaired residents of Seminole County, he never thought he'd end up visually impaired himself. But during a yearly checkup, Schwimmer's doctor discovered a problem and sent him to a retinal specialist who diagnosed him with macular degeneration, an eye condition that causes loss of vision.

"He said 'If you had macular degeneration 10 years ago, I would have told you to get a dog and a cane,'" Schwimmer said.

Schwimmer was able to receive eye injections - six in his left eye and 17 in his right eye - to slow the progression of his macular degeneration. He said he can read large-print books and can still drive in familiar areas, but what he can no longer do is collect eyeglasses for those in need, a long-time mission of both Schwimmer and the Lions Club.

Schwimmer originally joined the Lions Club in Michigan in 1965. When he moved to Central Florida in 1973, he decided to join the Winter Park branch because it hosted meetings at night. He later transferred to the Oviedo-Winter Springs branch once it was created.

"In 2000, the Oviedo-Winter Springs club got started, and being a former Lion, I was one of the principal members of the club," Schwimmer said. "The new members would ask me what the other clubs did and I said the one thing they do is go out and collect old eyeglasses [for those who] can't afford them."

The Lions Club, which formed in Chicago in 1917, officially adopted the cause of sight preservation in 1925, when Helen Keller addressed the club. Schwimmer said that this cause somehow fell on his shoulders, but he took it and ran with it.

For five years, he collected eyeglasses from 44 locations in Seminole and Orange counties, from Lake Mary to the airport and across I-4. One of the reasons he can no longer continue collecting is because he can only see well enough to drive on familiar roads. A request from family and friends also persuaded him to stop.

"One of the reasons I had to give this up is because some family and friends said 'You're 81 years old, and while you're in one of the seedy sections of Greater Orlando, one of these days someone will try to do you harm to steal your truck.'"

Aside from collecting eyeglasses, Schwimmer and the rest of the Lions Club also became involved in setting up eye exams and securing surgeries for those in need.

Because of Schwimmer's acquaintance with Cindy Shadron, the executive director of The Forgotten Ones charity in Oviedo, the two organizations partnered to assist those who can't afford eyeglasses or surgery.

"It helps us to know that they can come here," Shadron said. "We had one guy who needed surgery and we got the guy's surgery. He was crying because he had been to so many places but he couldn't afford it. Nobody was helping this man."

When someone is identified as being in need, a member of the Lions Club meets him or her at the Vine Outreach Thrift Store, which is owned by The Forgotten Ones. The member walks that person through the paperwork and establishes whether or not the person's in need of financial aid. If they are, the Lions Club will pay $200 per eye per surgery, which can cost up to $5,000. The rest of the cost is picked up by the Lions Foundation for the Blind.

"I love doing it. I've helped in excess of 2,000 people, and I felt great about the fact that I've been able to help these people," Schwimmer said.

One of the people he's been able to help is Genitha Nickson, a volunteer at The Forgotten Ones. Nickson started doing community service under the guidance of Shadron, who asked her if she needed anything. Aside from an ID and her birth certificate, Nickson also needed eyeglasses. Shadron called Schwimmer, who met Nickson at The Forgotten Ones and set her up with a pair of glasses.

"Since I've been here, my life has changed a little bit," Nickson said. "They've helped me out a lot."

Schwimmer's life, of course, has also changed. Though he no longer collects eyeglasses for the Lions Club, he's still very much an active member. As the chairman of the club, he's involved with projects including Right to Sight, which promotes programs that fight blindness and loss of vision. He oversees fundraising events, such as the club's bingo night at St. Alban's Church on Aloma Avenue.

"Every penny that comes in is used for the benefit of the neighborhood and the surrounding areas," Schwimmer said.

But his work doesn't stop there. He's also busy training the three Lions Club members who will take over his collection duties, and he's still helping people who are in need of eye surgery.

"I've still got clients who are in the process of getting surgeries and I'm taking care of them until they're finished," he said.

For more information on The Oviedo-Winter Springs Lions Club, email Dennis Dulniak at ddulniak@ucf.mail.edu. 

For more information on The Forgotten Ones, visit www.theforgottenonesinc.org.

The Vine Gets Dose Of Own Medicine From Scout

A Seminole Chronicle Article

By Alicia Mandigo | August 02, 2012

Eagle Scout Andrew McCrary
stands in front of
a collection of items for sale.
Money made from
The Vine Outreach Thrift Store
ultimately funds plans
for the Shiloh Ranch.

It sits just at the crest of the hill in downtown Oviedo in the shadow of the giant Baptist church across the street. It's The Vine Outreach Thrift Store, a modest store that screams "look at me" with street-side displays of eclectic wares and signs offering free bread and pastries. Perhaps you've noticed it without realizing that its purpose is to serve the people in our community who go unnoticed.

"We try to give people their life vision back, or perhaps give them a new vision," Director Cindy Shadron said.

Shadron opened The Vine five years ago as a way to raise money for a proposed ranch that would serve as a transitional facility for teenagers aging out of foster care. Plans have named it the Shiloh Ranch, and it will provide children with a chance to participate in a working ranch while acquiring the skills and services they need to transition into adulthood. Of course, the ranch concept requires money, so Shadron created an umbrella nonprofit called The Forgotten Ones, and The Vine operates beneath it by generating the bulk of the nonprofit's funding.

The Vine is housed in what used to be a downtown cottage. It holds an abundance of stuff that is strikingly well organized throughout The Vine's small space. A steady stream of people shuffle through. Some of the visitors are there to shop, but most of them are there to visit Shadron and her volunteers.

"We try to connect with people; we don't simply give them bread and send them on their way," Shadron said.

The people who come through are people in need of services and moral support, and The Vine provides it. A woman newly arrived from Puerto Rico needed help securing identification. She can't get a job without ID, so The Vine helped her. An alcoholic homeless man who cleaned up his act needed to clean up his appearance, so The Vine provided him a haircut and a shave.

"We do so much; it's hard to quantify," Shadron said. "We've taught people to read, we help them find work, we try to meet them where they are in life and give them a hand up."

However, the tables recently have turned for the nonprofit. Now, The Vine is receiving their own hand up from a 16-year-old scout working toward his Eagle Scout rank.

"I decided to do a project for them because they've been giving to the community for years, and I thought it was time somebody gave something back to them," prospective Eagle Scout Andrew McCrary said.

The Vine has outgrown its space. In the lot behind the thrift store, The Vine has a tractor-trailer so overloaded with Christmas decorations that spill out when the door is opened. The decorations will provide good revenue when the season hits, but right now, they can't even be displayed. So McCrary proposed building shelves to put in the tractor-trailer for his Eagle Scout project. It's an enormous undertaking. The trailer first has to be emptied. He will then build sets of 6-by-8 foot shelving for displaying the Christmas decorations. When it's complete, McCrary will have built a total of 360 square feet worth of shelving space. It's the kind of project that could easily intimidate someone.

"I was [intimidated] in the beginning because I had to raise $700 and I wasn't really prepared, but now I'm comfortable with it," McCrary said.

In addition to raising the money to pay for the shelving, McCrary has also recruited volunteers to help with the work. It will have been an eight-month long project when he completes it this month.

McCrary and his fellow scouts have volunteered at The Vine before, helping with things like serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless. He says he was particularly drawn to The Vine's mission of helping children aging out of foster care, and that's why he asked Shadron if he could use The Vine for his Eagle Scout project.

"She told me, 'I always have projects for Eagle Scouts,'" McCrary said.

That's understandable, since Shadron said the scouts always do impressive work.

Helping The Forgotten Ones

Photo by Brittni Larson

Luisa Perez cuts Dean Moscato’s hair at The Vine Thrift Store’s free lunch event where they also offer free haircuts.

"Helping The Forgotten Ones"

A Seminole Voice Article

By Brittni Larson July 12, 2012 3:31 p.m. 

The stories about the “forgotten ones,” even in our own backyard, are endless. The mom of three whose husband has been out of work for six months, the man who lost his job and can barely scrape up enough money to get groceries, the good guy who let his tough life lead him to drink too much — all just snippets of the daily struggle that many just don’t see.


But Cindy Shadron is one of the few who not only knows their stories in detail, but also helps to change them into something better.


“People are hurting everywhere … the people right here,” Shadron said. “A lot of them are starting over and they don’t know what to do.”


Shadron, a native of Oviedo and resident of Geneva, started The Vine Thrift Store in Oviedo when she wanted to create a way to give back. She spent 11 years as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem, a person who is court appointed to represent children who have been taken out of their homes because of abuse or neglect, to make sure they find a safe and caring permanent environment. After seeing what those children go through, she knew she needed to do more. She started The Forgotten Ones Inc., which is a non-profit that encompasses her thrift store and an outreach center.


“She’s dedicated her life to others,” said Linda Moscato, who used their food pantry to provide for her son when he lost his job.


Shadron’s goal is to start a working ranch for young adults 18-25 who are aging out of the foster care system, being released from a juvenile correctional facility, or are homeless or runaways. They’d be able to learn love, leadership and hard work while being mentored by people who truly care about them, Shadron said. Not only that, the ranch would be home to rescue animals and offer horticulture classes for the public. She hopes it will be up and running next year.


But she had to start somewhere, and for her The Vine was the beginning. Right now, it’s her whole life, but she never stops looking toward her ultimate goal.


“I got so busy here, it’s absorbed all my time, but it didn't absorb my heart and goals,” she said about her dream of starting the ranch.


So far, The Vine has spawned The Resource Center there, where Shadron, her husband Mike and volunteers help those in need become self-sufficient. Their services include an emergency food pantry and referrals to organizations that can assist them. They also pay for and assist in paperwork to get identification, such as Florida State ID cards and social security cards, which are required to get help from many food pantries and to gain employment.


Most of all, they offer support and encouragement. Many lose their vision and goals or have never had anyone ask them what they are in the first place. Shadron gives hugs, and tells people she loves them. Some can’t remember the last time they've heard that.


“I’ve seen that light they had that’s kind of gone,” Shadron said.


For more information about Cindy Shadron’s The Forgotten Ones, located at The Vine 98 W Broadway Street in Oviedo, visit www.theforgottenonesinc.org or call 407-495-5100. The last Saturday of every month they serve free lunch to the public. They also have an emergency food pantry for those in need.


Shadron needs volunteers and funds to continue helping locals in need and to get her ranch off the ground. Emailinfo@theforgotten... or call 407-495-5100 if you’re interested in helping.


She tries to kindle that fire with hope for the future. People like Mike Sykes of Oviedo are helped every day. Sykes, who was homeless and an alcoholic, finally asked them for help after attending their free lunch event a few times. The Shadron's took him to the hospital for detox, got him into a program to recover from his alcoholism and let him stay with them for a couple weeks. In reality, Sykes was a stranger when they helped him through all that. Now, he’s part of their Vine family. He said he wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for them. He’s been sober for almost two years.


“It’s impacting lives and mine in a very positive way,” Sykes said. “They showed me how to care about other people and myself.”


Dean Moscato said he’s learned a lot from his hardships, too. When he lost his job, his mother got food from The Vine and sent it to him in Colorado for about a year. Once he got down to Florida, seeing all the good work they do made him want to volunteer his time while he looks for a job. The experience has changed his whole outlook on life and people, he said.


“I used to be a lot more judgemental,” Moscato said. “I've learned how to be a better person.”


Mother of three Shanti Suarez-Correa said that Shadron has been a blessing in her life, giving guidance, groceries and friendship whenever she’s needed it. And just like Shadron always says, God has put it on her heart to give this help. It was meant to be.


“Never feel ashamed to say you need help because God puts the right people in your path, and when you least expect it,” Correa said. “And that she was for me, definitely an angel.”