Portland, Ore.

The national president of the Elks, Amos McCallum, will visit the children's eye clinic at Oregon Health & Science University Casey Eye Institute next week.

The Elks Children's Eye Clinic is the major charitable project of the Oregon State Elks Association. For more than 50 years the Elks have contributed enormously to the growth of the clinic, donating millions of dollars for the latest equipment, technology, personnel and medical supplies. The Elks also contribute thousands of volunteer hours annually, greeting patients and helping with the annual Elks Children's Eye Clinic Easter egg hunt.

With support from the Elks, the clinic has grown from one to four pediatric ophthalmologists and has treated more than 100,000 children. The clinic, along with Casey, has outgrown its current space. As select clinical services are moved to the first building in the OHSU South Waterfront Development, this will open up the space needed for the clinic to expand. With continued support from the Elks, the clinic will double its current capacity during the next several years.

"We are incredibly grateful for the continued support of the Oregon Elks," said Joe Robertson Jr., M.D., M.B.A., dean of the OHSU School of Medicine and director of the Casey Eye Institute. "Their generosity has made it possible to provide exceptional care to children with eye problems in our region."

McCallum will tour the facility at 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 28. He will meet with the clinic staff during his visit. From there, McCallum will continue on to the Oregon State Elks Association annual convention in Keizer where he is expected to encourage Oregon Elks to continue their support of the children's eye clinic.

McCallum, a resident of Saco, Maine, is the 135th national president of the Elks, an organization of more than 1.2 million men and women with lodges in more than 2,200 communities in the United States. This is the first time the Elks national president has visited the clinic.

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