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Recent Local Media Coverage of Ashland Lions Club

• Ashland Lions recycle for sight, The Daily Press, Monday, March 12th, 2001
• Lions Eye Bank gives gift of sight - by Sarah & Tom Waby, The Daily Press, Monday, April 02, 2001
• Lions ready to roar in Ashland on Saturday - by Claudia Curran - Staff Writer, The Daily Press, Wednesday, April 28th, 2004
• Lions Club puts 'community first' - by Keven O'Brien - Staff Writer, The Daily Press, Monday, May 3rd, 2004
• Lions Club committed to gifts of life - by Sarah Waby for  The Daily Press, Monday, April 8th, 2005
• Bay area residents contribute to relief effort - Rick Olivo, The Daily Press, Friday, September 23rd, 2005

If You Are Downtown Ashland on May 19th...

 by Megan Perrine, Faith In Action Coordinator

      Plan on stopping downtown for a Sixth Street Market brat, hot off the grill this Saturday morning.  The Ashland Lions Club will be setting up in front of the Army Navy Store and firing up their fundraising operation.  The proceeds from this sale will be donated to the Faith In Action program.

     Known internationally for working to end preventable blindness, Lions clubs participate in a wide variety of projects important to their local communities. The Ashland chapter provides diabetes awareness
screenings in our community, as well as running the glaucoma screening at the Senior Expo each year.

     1700 pairs of eyeglasses were brought in last year through their eyeglass recycling program. The club also works with a local eye doctor to assist community members that are in need of eyeglasses but do not have the funds to buy them. A hearing aid recycling program is also in place. Local victims of catastrophe can turn to the Lions for emergency funds.

     The delivery of donated eyes to Madison is a special project for the Ashland club. When a person in the community passes away who has indicated he/she would like their eyes to be harvested for donation, the chapter is contacted immediately. Trained nurses from the local chapter pick up the donated eyes and deliver them to Lions members in the Park Falls area, and through a relay system the eyes are delivered to Madison
as quickly as possible.

     The local members have had the opportunity to meet the recipient of one of these eye donations. The gratitude of this person for the vision he now has makes such projects worthwhile to those
involved.

     The Ashland group has also put a lot of work and money into the Central Railyard Park. They purchased two playground structures for the new park.

     This summer the club will be installing two handicapped accessible swings as well as a water fountain. Over the past three years the club has donated $45,000 worth of work and equipment to this park alone.

     The group supports many local causes by financial donations including the Food Shelf, the D.A.R.E drug awareness program, and Faith In Action-Ashland County.

     They also have a Kid Christmas Shopping Program in which 30 local children from underprivileged situations are taken shopping. Each child can pick out gifts for their family members. The kids and club members meet afterwards to wrap the presents and have a party. The club members buy a present for the child as well.
 

     The Ashland Lions send funds each year to the state organization to support statewide projects.  One of their very successful endeavors is Wisconsin Lions Camp serving physically and mentally disabled children in Rosholt, Wisconsin. The camp provides an enjoyable, safe, and memorable camping experience for many special needs youth. 

     Another broader Lions effort is the Leader Dog School in Rochester, Michigan. Through the local Bowling for the Blind campaign, school children collect pledges for a yearly bowling event. This money is used to support the school which provides training for deaf and blind people in working with their new guide dogs. The actual cost of raising a leader dog from puppy through completed training with its master is $39,000, so these funds are always needed.

     How does the club raise the funds needed to do all this good work? The local chapter has many fundraisers throughout the year with 80% of the proceeds going back into local projects. They hold several Brat and Hot Dog Feeds throughout the year, as well as an annual 4th of July cookout on the Courthouse lawn. The Bay Days food booth that they have each summer is one of the main fundraisers. They hold a few raffles each year as well.

     To make this all happen, they meet twice a month. The members enjoy fellowship as they work together on worthwhile community service. Their members are a cross section of the Ashland community and each member brings something new to the club. Membership is open.

Faith In Action -Ashland County would like to thank the local chapter of the Lions Club for all it does for the community and for its support

If you have any questions about the Ashland Lions Club or its programs,
please call Greg Tobisch, club president, at 682-4504.