The first eye bank program in the State of Wisconsin to assist the medical community in regard to the need for ocular tissue for transplant began in 1953 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through the Milwaukee Eye Bank. It was sponsored by the Marquette University Medical School. In 1964, the Milwaukee Eye Bank was taken over by the Wisconsin Lions Foundation (WLF) and was renamed the Wisconsin Lions Eye Bank. In 1969, a separate eye bank facility in Madison, Wisconsin, was started with similar goals to the Milwaukee program, and it was administered through the University of Wisconsin and University Hospitals and Clinics. Two eye banks in the State of Wisconsin divided areas of service based on geographical and demographic considerations. Both eye banks were directly governed by their respective medical school administrations and were funded, in part, by contributions of $25,000 per year to each program by WLF
