Halloween is creeping up on us. Next week, ghosts, goblins and assorted other characters will be prowling the streets in search of treats. Creepy little creatures, lurking in shadows, banging on doors and begging for sweets can be a scary proposition – especially if you run out of candy.

But there is something even more frightening – needing eyeglasses and not being able to afford or have access to them. This is the reality for countless people in developing nations.

Lions Clubs International and LensCrafters are working to change that. They joined forces more than a decade ago to turn Halloween from fright night to Sight Night, an offshoot of the Gift of Sight program. In some areas, children, while trick-or-treating for candy, will also be asking for your old eyeglasses.

“I think Sight Night is important,” said Nick McNally, optician and Gift of Sight captain at LensCrafters in Bangor.

“We and the Lions Club collect glasses year round, but we probably wouldn’t have as many without Sight Night,” he said. “Halloween is a good time because kids are going door-to-door anyway, and it gets them involved. It’s also fun for us because many of the Lions Club members are older and the employees are younger, so the interaction is nice.”

All glasses and sunglasses, prescription or not, are needed and can be put to good use – prescription lenses can be put in the frames. Once collected, the glasses are sorted and sent to a Lions Club or LensCrafters recycling center for cleaning and repairs. The glasses are then hand-delivered during optical missions to developing countries, McNally explained.

“I’ve seen pictures of some of the people who have gotten glasses and they have the biggest smiles,” he said. One little child received oversized glasses like those worn by former talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael, and the youngster had a large smile to match, he added.

Federal law prohibits prescription glasses from being recycled and used in the U.S. However, the Lions Club has other programs that assist individuals in this country get the glasses they need at little or no cost.

“The thing is that the glasses aren’t just being stored,” said Jim Picard, 68, a 19-year member of the Lions Club. “These glasses are being recycled and going to thousands of people around the world.” Picard, who’s in charge of collecting all the donated glasses from numerous drop boxes around Bangor, reports having 2,500 pairs in his garage currently. These will be delivered to LensCrafters on Halloween.

When the Sight Night slogan “Jeepers creepers, we need your old peepers” caught the eye of Deb Chapman, director of community services outreach services at Eastern Agency on Aging, she took action. There is now a large orange-and-black box in the lobby of our offices at 450 Essex St., Bangor, for people to drop off old glasses. The box will be in place until noon on Oct. 31. Then the contents will be delivered on Halloween to LensCrafters.

“I thought it was a neat event, especially with October being Vision Awareness month in Maine,” Chapman said. “We get calls from older people looking for help to off-set the cost of glasses and there aren’t many resources that do that. The Lions Club helps. EAA embraced the event and I think it will be a fun time for a good cause. It seemed like a natural for us to be involved.”

Now don’t panic, but Christmas is only two short months from Halloween. So, after you’ve “scared” up all your old glasses, round up your mitten patterns.

Meals for Me is calling all knitters.

“We’re inviting Meals for Me patrons and others to join Project Warm Hands,” said Gail Ward, director of nutrition at Eastern Agency on Aging. “This program links handmade mittens and other warm things with children who will need them this winter.”

If you can knit and would like to help a child in need stay warm when the snow flies, break out your needles and yarn now. If you are like me and can’t knit, but would still like to participate, you might consider donating purchased items.

The program runs until Nov. 22, when all the items will be collected, sorted and distributed in time for Christmas.

To obtain information on drop-off points, or to arrange for a volunteer to pick up the items, call Eastern Agency on Aging at 941-2865 and ask for Meals for Me.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA programs and services, call the resource and referral department at 941-2865 or log on www.eaaa.org.