Lions Club news

At the November meeting of the Union County Lions Club our helpers during the Sorghum Fest - non Lions - were our special guests at Steve's Cookie Jar. We were all treated to a variety of events taking place that evening, the first one being a donation of $500 from our club to members of the Masonic Lodge to assist them in their yearly preparation and distribution of food baskets to the less fortunate citizens of Union County.

Our membership ranks are again swelling as two folks, Judy Hoye, sponsored by Lisa Little and Charles Stubblefield, sponsored by Gene Little, are officially Lions. They were inducted into our club by Lion Bill Mundy of Dahlonega, Ga., who is the District 18D Vice President of the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, Inc. His subsequent talk to us focused on the work of the Lighthouse in providing vision and hearing care to Georgians in financial need. Last year, funds were provided for 176 eye surgeries to be performed; in the first 3 months of 2007, numbers of surgeries are up with 82 folks receiving sight-restoring surgeries with an approximation that 300 will be helped by the end of the year.

On the hearing front, state of the art digital hearing aids are now available through the Lighthouse to those qualifying individuals. The criteria to be met for eligibility for hearing aids and eye repairs is a follows: 1) applicant must be a resident of Georgia, 2) applicant must have been rejected by other agencies, 3) applicant must have no insurance, 4) financial guidelines as to income must be met and 5) applicant needs to fill out the application available on the internet www.lionslighthouse.org or call the Lighthouse at 800-718-7483.

Kym Szczepanski, Director of Day Retreat, Inc., a program of continuous learning for adults with developmental disabilities, spoke about her curriculum. Currently there are 6 individuals enrolled between the ages of 22 and 76. Her goals for her clients include encouraging independent living skills, assisting them with challenging tasks rather than doing for them, with the ultimate result that the clients will become involved in, and accepted by, the community. The Union County Lions Club adopted Kym's group for the Christmas season and held a Christmas party for them on Dec. 13 at the Union County Civic Center. The caterer was Grinds and Glazes.

We move forward and continue to live out our motto, "We Serve."