Brad King
2023 AMAZING NEIGHBORS - Tualatin
Hometown: Tualatin
Why he is an Amazing Neighbor:
Brad King works with the Oregon Sight & Hearing Foundation to make sight and hearing services more accessible.
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY:
Advocating for kids to see, hear their world
Brad King is working to make sight and hearing services accessible to all Tualatin youth.
King is the lead screening events & development coordinator for the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation — a nonprofit branch of the Oregon Lions Clubs of Oregon that strives to make all sight and hearing services more accessible.
Lions Clubs are a nationwide volunteer organization that puts on events to raise money for five global causes: diabetes, hunger, environment, vision and childhood cancer.
King was first a member of the Tualatin Lions Club, inspired by his father’s longtime involvement with the group.
“A few years after my retirement, the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation reached out to me to work in the school vision screening program,” King said. “I’ve been a member of the Lions Club in Tualatin since 2000 and kind of grew up with the Lions, so I was excited to join.”
In his work with the foundation, King helps to coordinate screening and hearing tests for local schools. The national nonprofit also provides surgeries, treatment, screening, exams, eyeglasses and hearing aids to those in the community who cannot afford these services elsewhere.
King enjoys the classroom visits he does with the Lions and is proud of the efficiency with which his group can help out.
“When I joined, the program had just taken off with a new vision and methodology,” King said. “We got some awesome technology my second year there that allows us to screen about 200 to 250 kiddos an hour and lets us do a whole class in 5 minutes which is just great.”
King’s involvement with the Tualatin Lions Club also goes hand in hand with his work with the sight and hearing foundation, as he often helps the club organize events that raise money for things like glasses and hearing aids for the foundation.
The Tualatin Lions events, such as the annual Oktoberfest and Easter Egg hunt, have helped raise $1,500 for the Sight & Hearing Foundation.
For King, the ability to help out those in the community who don’t have the money for these essential health needs draws him to the cause.
“I found myself with vision issues in the fifth grade. And, you know, my mom and dad were comfortable enough that they could take care of that, but I knew what dad was doing to help other kids,” King said. “And I knew kids who got their glasses from The Lions, so it was kind of natural for me to want to join.”
King’s involvement with serving his community runs deep, as he is a former captain of the Tualatin Police Department, where he served for 23 years.
“Tualatin has always been a family-oriented community. From the school district to the churches to the youth sports, it’s all family all the time, and that’s what we love about it,” King said.
Despite being nominated as an Amazing Neighbor, King feels he doesn’t deserve all the credit for his work in the community.
“I’m humbled because it’s not me,” King said. “It’s the whole team, and it’s everybody in the Lions Club. It’s everybody in the community. It’s everybody at the Oregon Sight & Hearing Foundation. I have never done anything any good all by myself. So, all I really ask is for people to keep supporting your community and your neighbors.”