lions club

Lion’s Club State Convention in El Paso will feature newest member: The Mission Valley Lion’s Club

By Joe Olvera ©, 2010

Thea Chambers, president of the Horizon-Eastlake Lions’s Club in El Paso’s Mission Valley is happily assisting residents of San Elizario, Texas as they form their very own, first-ever, Mission Valley Lion’s Club. “We only started recruiting last October, and we’ve already got 22 members,” Chambers said. “San Elizario is a small community, with a lot of history behind it. I felt it was about time for people there to join our band of brothers and sisters. I’m teaching them to form a club.”
The newly chartered Mission Valley Lion’s Club – chartered April 30, 2010 – in San Elizario is only the latest to join the thousands of other members who make the Lion’s Club International one of the most progressive and helpful organizations in the world. The new Lion’s Club will now be able to attend and assist in the State Convention that’s taking place in El Paso from May 13, 2010 to May 15, 2010.
Don Peppard, MD-2 Council chairperson, and chairman of the 16 Lion’s Clubs Districts in Texas, said it’s El Paso’s turn to host the state-wide convention, an honor that only comes around every 16 years. “Our last convention in El Paso happened 16 years ago. This year, we’re having it here again and, in 16 years, we’ll come back to El Paso. We’ll be at the Wyndham Hotel, 2927 Airway Blvd., where more than 300 people have already registered. “We expect more, however,” Peppard said. “From California to San Angelo, Lions are preparing to travel to El Paso.”
The convention will feature meetings early Thursday morning, followed by seminars and other activities for the three days the convention will take place. “We’re always looking for new recruits. This new club in San Elizario gives us what we need, the impetus to bring more people into our fold, so that we an continue helping out our communities.”
Chambers, who’s been a Lion four years, said she loves what she’s doing. “My daddy was a Lion, and he taught me that we all have a responsibility to help our fellow beings. The Lion Alliance forms the strength of our group. We’re looking for movers and shakers in a community, because they are the ones who make things happen.”
Some of those things that Lions make happen include providing eye glasses for people who can’t afford them. “We have our Warriors for Vision and our Knights for Sight, patterned after what Helen Keller wanted Americans to do for the blind and for those who can’t see very well.
“We’re just helping a community to improve the lives of the people who live there,” Chambers said. “Besides working to provide people with eyeglasses, we also run a food bank, we provide food baskets for the needy. We’re working to obtain a semi-truck that will help deliver food for 400 to 500 people in the Mission Valley. Whatever we do, whatever our efforts are, we’re doing it for the good of the community.”

Lion’s Club International: A Friend in Need

By Joe Olvera ©, 2010
Orlando Rodriguez of El Paso, the 1st Vice District Governor of the Lion’s Club District 2T3, said his organization has been at the forefront in providing disaster relief to the people of Haiti through its international programs and connections. His own district, 2T3, which encompasses El Paso, Texas to Odessa, Texas, has always responded to disasters. “With more than 1,000 members in my  district, the Lions Club is always providing funds for disaster relief,” Rodriguez said. “This time is no different.
Al Brandel, LCIF chairperson, said in a statement on the Internet, that the Lion’s Club is working to learn all it can about the devastation in Haiti. “At LCIF, we have also learned more about the situation on the ground from the Lions of Haiti,” Brandel said. “My heart goes out to all the Lions in Haiti, who have been personally affected by this disaster. We have lost at least two club members as well as many close relatives. Yet, these brave Lions have put aside their own grief, their own needs to help their community. LCIF is working non-stop with Lions of that area to support “Lions Hope for Haiti.”
Brandel said that Lions Hope for Haiti has mobilized more than $350,000 U.S.
dollars to date. “Lions around the world are responding generously and quickly to
the LCIF designated fund for this disaster. Donations are continuing to pour in
from individuals, clubs and districts, and I thank all of you who have already pledged your support.”
LCIF is assisting the people of Haiti in a variety of ways. Besides money, medical equipment, and other essential needs, the Texas Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center has been helping to collect medical equipment for those most affected by the disaster. The group is still in need of crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, and other equipment that will help people who have suffered havoc for Haitians.
PDG Bob Edwards, of TLERC Information, wants for every Lion to become involved in providing help. “Your assistance is needed to decide on an appropriate location to gather the requested equipment in each district,” Edwards said. “As the equipment is gathered, please appoint a trusted Lion to communicate to TLERC as to the amount and type of equipment and its location. We will organize a plan to collect what you have gathered and get it to a common shipping point.” Edwards said that the number to call is 432-683-7900. The group’s email address is  HYPERLINK “mailto:tlerc@attglobal.net” tlerc@attglobal.net.
Other efforts by LCIF include:
*Lions in neighboring Caribbean countries are sending cargo containers of requested supplies through connections with transportation companies.
*Lions in Sweden are sending large tents through the Swedish government     to provide housing for those who are now homeless as well as relief workers, as they did for the China earthquake.
*Lions from District A-9, Ontario, Canada were in the area when the earthquake hit, helping to establish a clean water system for an orphanage, and responded by establishing a make-shift medical clinic, treating 600 people.
Lions are contributing generously, some examples include: US$86,000 pledged from Lions in Norway; US$20,000 from Lions in China; US$14,000 from District 105-I, England.