News
Lions Club receives award
Scott Wagar
12/18/2012
The Lake Metigoshe Lions Club has been named the District 5 NW Lions Club of the Year and was granted the award on December 10 at Metigoshe Ministries’ Christian Center.
According to Jim Johnson, member of the Minot’s Lions Club and chairman of the 5th NW Zone, Lake Metigoshe’s Lions were named the club of the year due to its increase in membership in 2011 and for the funds the members raised through the club’s projects.
Lake Metigoshe Lions Club had 11 individuals join its club, ending the year with 35 members.
The club’s projects raised $7,000 with some of the major projects including the Pepsi Can Plunge at the lake’s narrows, selling maps of Lake Metigoshe and renting sign spaces on the club’s signs that are located on the Lake Loop.
Outside those projects, the Lions at Lake Metigoshe sponsored two blood drives, delivered Cheer Boxes at Christmas time and collected eye glasses and hearing aids to assist in granting sight and hearing to those who cannot afford these medical services.
Terry Espe was the 2011-12 president of the Lake Metigoshe Lions Club, while Les Halvorson is the current 2012-13 president.
Lions Club International has 1.36 million members world-wide and was founded on June 7, 1917 by Melvin Jones, a Chicago businessman, who had the motto for community service, “You can’t get very far until you start doing something for somebody else.”
The Lions are in 207 countries and have 46,000 clubs, making them the largest service club organization in the world.
The Lions motto is “We Serve” and in the past 95 years they become known as the most effective club in community service.
According to the Lions International Club’s website, the Lions have assisted in these types of community projects.
- LIONS GIVE SIGHT: By conducting vision screening, equipping hospitals and clinics, distributing medicine and raising awareness of eye disease. Lions work toward their mission of providing vision for all. They have extended their commitment to sight conversation through countless local community projects and through international SightFirst project, which works to eradicate blindness.
More than 120 million children worldwide have been helped by need base Lions Eye Care Centers opened with the World Health Organization to deliver eye care services, and, more than 15 million children have been screened by Sight for Kids, a joint initiative of Lions Club International Foundation and Johnson Vision Care, which provides vision screening, eyeglasses and other treatments.
- LIONS SERVE YOUTH: Its community projects often support local children and schools through scholarships, recreation and mentoring. Internationally, the Lions offer many programs, including the Peace Poster Contest, Youth Camps and Exchange and Lions Quests. And its Leo Program provides personal development through youth volunteer opportunities. There are approximately 144,000 Leos and 5,700 Leo clubs in more than 140 countries world-wide.
- LIONS AWARD GRANTS: Since 1968, the Lions Club International has awarded more than US$700 million in grants to support Lions humanitarian community projects around the world. Together, its Foundation and Lions are helping communities following natural disasters by providing for immediate needs such as food, water, clothing and medical supplies, and aiding in long-term reconstruction.
Outside of these programs, the Lions Club provided hearing and speech conversations, diabetes awareness, international relations, environmental issues and many more projects.