Orcas LIONS Herald the Year’s Service

— by Margie Doyle —

The Orcas LIONS club can tell us all about how to have a good time – help other folks! At the annual holiday dinner on Dec. 11,  a healthy contingent of LIONS met to recap the work they’ve done this year and to honor outstanding service of its members.

President Steve Shaefer noted that 80 percent of its local members help out, as  opposed to standard 30 percent experienced elsewhere by other service organizations.

Everybody here works!

This year, the local LIONS club members  not only raised significant funds,  they also brought pleasant and hardworking man- and woman-power to community events such as:

• Held six blood drives throughout the year;
• With the Community Foundation, provided volunteers for the Dental Van;
• Provided vision care assistance service for exams and typically eyeglasses, to 10 persons;
• Through its Sunrise Volunteers (primarily to non-LIONS members), responded to ad-hoc requests for assistance such as providing a Christmas tree; arranging off-island transportation; and household or moving tasks for islanders in challenging situations..
• Assistance in preparing tax returns at the Senior Center;
• Easter Egg hunt delighted about 125  kids;
• Camp Horizon in Blaine, Washington;
• reading program with early education;
• supplying medical and mobility equipment;
• dispersal of Holiday Baskets — some 150 of them — to island households;
• Santa’s Visit at Orcas Landing on Sunday, Dec. 16.

At the holiday dinner, outstanding service awards were given to Velma Doty and Rita Harvey, who announced that they would donate their $100 awards to Orcas Family Resource Center and the Orcas Island Historical Museum,respectively.

Then past president Toby Hiller announced the recipients of the Melvin Jones award for exceptional service over the years, a $1,000 donation to LIONS Club International in recognition of individual members. This year the Melvin Jones award was given to Grant Stone and Karen Hiller. Karen is the first woman in the Orcas LIONS club to win the award in its 50 years on Orcas; and she recalled joining the local LIONS exactly 20 years ago at the annual meeting at the Deer Harbor Inn.

Ways the Orcas LIONS raised funds to accomplish all their efforts include:

• $4,000 from its salmon barbeque;
• $18,000 in tent and chair rentals;
• $1,800 for its “White Cane” initiative for vision and hearing services,  half of which goes to the NW LIONS organization; 
• $17,500 in scholarships from LIONS investment funds to five high school seniors.

Those interested in becoming a LION can give President Steve Schaefer a call at 360-376-1067.

Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with more than 1.4 million members in approximately 46,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas around the world.