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About Us

New Mexico Lions Eye Bank (NMLEB) has been providing safe, high-quality corneal tissue to surgeons and their patients since 1962.

Albuquerque is a city of diversity, with geographic and historic circumstances that brought Native American, Hispanic and Anglo cultures together to create a unique multicultural community. The land awes and inspires with the Sandia and Manzano Mountains to the east, the Rio Grande river valley cutting through the city and the West Mesa escarpment with its ghosts of volcanic activity. In spite of the size of the city and all of the amenities that go along with big city life, Albuquerque manages to retain a small town charm.

Native American groups have inhabited the territory of New Mexico for thousands of years, many centuries before Europeans reached the Americas. Reminders of their ancient presence are throughout our state: cliff dwellings and pit houses, kivas (underground ceremonial chambers), abandoned cities along ancient trade routes, and symbols etched in rock. New Mexico is home to 22 tribes, which include the Navajo Nation, Jicarilla Apache, Mescalero Apache, and 19 pueblos.

The Navajo Nation is the largest American Indian tribe in North America and their reservation is located in northwest New Mexico, northern Arizona and southeast Utah. The Jicarilla Apache live in northern New Mexico and the Mescalero Apache reside in southern New Mexico. A majority of the 19 pueblos are located in northern New Mexico. Each tribe is unique and they have their own traditional languages, customs, values, prayers, songs, ceremonies, traditional attire, and way of life. The centrally located Albuquerque area is the perfect starting point from which to explore our Native American heritage.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta will fill Albuquerque's crystal blue skies each year. The Balloon Fiesta is still the premier international ballooning event, powered by the perfect October climate and a phenomenon called the "Albuquerque Box," (a combination of weather patterns and geographic landscape, the box allows balloonists to control and even retrace their adventure).

The place to be in October is at Balloon Fiesta Park. The 200 acres of grass and booths will be filled with balloons and vendors selling everything from traditional New Mexican food to balloon memorabilia. Each year balloon teams from around the world participate in the event and news coverage originates from more than 50 countries. It has become the most photographed event in the world.