Stony Plain Lions Club will celebrate its 60 year anniversary on September 16, 2017 by holding a Charter Anniversary Banquet at Heritage Park.
Since the club’s chartering in 1957, its members have worked on a variety of projects in the local community, such as building a Bridge over Whispering Waters; supplying a playground in the Lions Hidden Park; providing the first HandiBus for the town and $50,000 to purchase a HandiVan on our 50th Anniversary and replace it with $60,000 funding on our 60th Anniversary. Our Legacy Project is our donation of $250,000 to the town for the Heritage Park Centre which coincides with 100 years of Lions Clubs and 150 years since Confederation.
Proceeds from past fundraising events have gone to sponsoring the 1st Stony Plain Scouts; MedicAlert memberships to students; purchasing shelving for the library, donated the equipment for the Teen Room, the Library expansion’s reading room was furnished by the Lions and help fund the annual Summer Reading Program; supporting the Tender Hearts Foundation every Christmas with funds, wrapping and helping deliver gifts to seniors in local nursing facilities, assisted living lodges; donating to Victim Services; purchasing furnishings for a “quiet room”, donated the funds for landscaping an area, supplied two outdoor benches in Memory of Jacob “Decker” Kulak and Alec Boychuck, for the use of patients and their visitors at WestView Health Centre, as well as purchased an X-Ray machine for the old Stony Plain Hospital, along with other Lions clubs in the area; donating annually to help fund campers at Camp He-Ho-Ha and aid in necessary repair of their facilities; supporting the Alberta Foundation for Diabetes Research; CNIB; the Travelling Diabetes Resource Program; Lions Quest, a school-based comprehensive youth development programs; Eye Institute of Alberta; a new floor at the Pioneer Museum and a cooler for the Tea House; annual donation to STARS (initially named Lions Air Ambulance Service) a service Alberta Lions started.
We also support International Projects through the Lions Clubs International Foundation, which provides funding for humanitarian causes throughout tje world. With funding from LCIF, Lions carry out large scale humanitarian projects in their community. Since LCIF began in 1968, it has awarded more than 10,000 grants totaling more than $700 million.
The SightFirst mission is to build eye care systems in underserved communities to fight blindness and vision loss and assist blind and visually impaired persons.
LCIF and Lions are collaborating with the Measles Initiative partners to rescue children worldwide from measles.
The club is currently providing eye screening in schools throughout Stony Plain, Spruce Grove and Parkland County; sponsoring a Peace Poster Contest in local schools; present Canadian flags and certificates during Lions Pride at local schools; hosting Fun in the Hidden Park every August for kids 4-12; we collect used eyeglasses and distribute them to needy people in developing countries.
According to Tina Ranson, club president, “We are proud of our club’s 60 years of service to the community. The Lion club members thank everyone who contributes to this important work. You are truly helping Lions make a difference in our community.”
The Stony Plain Lions Club has 29 members and meets on first & third Monday at 7:00 PM at the Stony Plain Lions RV Park. Lions clubs are a group of men and women who identify needs within the community and work together to fulfill those needs. For more information or to get involved with the Stony Plain Lions Club, please contact Joan at 780 963-5654 or Tina at 780 619-2691.
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. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world. For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit the Web site at www.lionsclubs.org.