River Hills Lions Club

Well, ladies and gentlemen, here we are at the start of a new year.  All the Presidents before me are very hard acts to follow.  I pray I will be able to measure up. 

As I have said many times before, this is such an awesome group of men and women! You have truly performed miracles!

In the last issue, we ran an article on the early beginnings of the Clover Area Assistance Center.  Now that I am involved with that also, I can’t explain what a gift to the community this center truly is.  Many of you donate financially and give your time to the center…without you we would not be the premier pantry in the greater Charlotte/York area…thank you, thank you, thank you.

Please note the members on our organization chart for this year are listed at the top of the chart as the premier, collective drivers of the board.  Please let any of us know where you would like to see the River Hills Lions in a year from now and we will consider your suggestion as one of our goals for the year.

I would like to see our major efforts directly impact our community.  Sandy Decker has been doing a great job in getting our accomplishments out to the public.  We had hoped we would have the Health Screening Unit (HSU formally called the mobile health unit) for the Clover Chamber of Commerce fall festival; however, the weekend event has been  changed after we had booked the HSU.  For this year, we need to let the date go; however, the Chamber has asked if we would like a booth.  This would be a great time  hand out our brochures and membership invitations…what do you think?  Let any of the board members know.  The date is September 20th down in Clover.

The HSU will be screening the 7th grade Jr. High School and the 11th grade Senior High School students on Thursday, September 25th and Friday, September 26th respectively.  The Friday call for volunteers is filled; however, we still need 3 morning and 3 afternoon volunteers for Thursday.  Lunch will be provided for both morning and afternoon volunteers at the “change of shift”.  Please let Lion Dona Van Leer know if you can help on Thursday.

Look for the Golf Tournament results else where in this newsletter.  Lion Patrick Kirby and his team did such a wonderful job and brought in quite a bit for our charities.

Please note we have an open position for Editor of FOCUS.  Please someone volunteer!

Our membership is currently at 161 members.  Our membership drive for last year was set at a goal of 30.  That was truly ambitious and nearly met with 27 new members for the year.  Way to go, RJ. 

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU TALKED TO SOMEONE ABOUT LIONISM AND JOINING THE RIVER HILLS LIONS CLUB?????

On Tuesday, June 3, 2008, president & publisher of The Charlotte Observer, Ann Caulkins, will be the guest speaker at the River Hills Lions Club. In 2006 Ms. Caulkins became the first female president and publisher in the 120 year history of the largest North Carolina daily newspaper, The Charlotte Observer. Per Journalist, Larry Timbs, Ms. Caulkins said that “her Girl Scout experience proved to her that she could sell. She parlayed that success into selling ads for her high school newspaper in Texas and eventually into selling ads or working on the promotions side for newspapers in Baylor, Texas and Fort Worth, Texas.”

Ms. Caulkins is a graduate of Simons Graduate School of Business Executive Course, has a BA from Baylor University, Member of the Board of Trustees of Centenary Methodist and Charlotte City Partners. Ms. Caulkins professional background: The (Columbia) State, publisher; Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, advertising director, then senior VP, sales and marketing; Fort Worth Star-Telegram, retail advertising director.

Ms. Caulkins is married with two sons.

Plan to join us on June 3, 2008, 7 pm. Call Lion Bill Burgin 803-370-2828 for details about the River Hills Lions Club and to make your reservation.

The River Hills Lions do their best to put the Lion motto, “We Serve” in practice. This year with the help of the Lions Sponsored mobile health screening van, members of the River Hills Lions Club screened 184 students for glaucoma, blood pressure, visual acuity and hearing.

Since 1974, the South Carolina Lions have provided the mobile health-screening unit making free preventative health screenings available throughout the state. Last year alone, we provided 9,500 free health screenings. These screenings would have cost the people of South Carolina over $274,650.00. Nearly a third of the screenings resulted in a referral to a health specialist, saving people even more in terms of the emotional and economic costs related to their conditions. In the end, the mobile health-screening unit provides South Carolina residents with a time-proven and effective “first line of defense” for addressing the preventative health needs of thousands of people annually.

Please mark your calendars, the Mobile Screening Van will be screening children at the Clover Elementary schools on September 25 and 26 and will be available for adults and children at the Clover Antique Car Show on September 27.

The Lions Strutters, which is comprised of various SC & NC Lions clubs such as the River Hills Lions, Lake Wylie Lions, Tega Cay Lions, Rock Hill Lions and South Park Lions, want to thank you, our families, friends and communities for your support and contributions to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Thanks to your donations, the Lions Strutters raised over $14,000. Your generous donations are helping JDRF find a cure for diabetes. Preliminary figures are in - - the Walk on April 19 was very successful with over 6,000 walkers who are well on their way to reach the JDRF Charlotte Chapter’s goal of $1.9M. We couldn’t have done it without you

The River Hills Lions are having their annual Charities Golf Tournament on May 9 (rain date May 16) at the beautiful River Hills Country Club. Shotgun start at 12:30 pm, boxed lunch at 11:30 am. Practice Range, refreshments on par 3 holes and awards party food & drinks included with entry fee. RHCC members - $95, Non-members $135.

Non-playing guests can attend the awards party for $35. Mulligans can be purchased at check-in $5 each or 3 for $10. Format – Players can sign up individually or make up their own foursome. Computer will select the teams (A-B-C-D handicapped) for Team prizes. Top team prize $1,000. Lots of prizes – team and individual! Proceeds will benefit the River Hills Lions Charities. Contact the River Hills Country Club Pro-Shop 803-831-2249 or Lion Pat Kirby at 803-831-0266 for your entry form.

In 1925 Helen Keller challenged the Lions to “become knights of the blind in this crusade against darkness “. The River Hills Lions have answered that challenge by helping the students at South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind (SCSDB) located in Spartanburg, SC. Since 1999 the River Hills Lions have donated over $30,000 to The Walker Foundation, which is the fundraising arm of the SCSDB. This money has been used to help build a performing arts facility and provide classroom furniture for pre-school children who are visually impaired. One of the rooms has been dedicated in honor the River Hills Lions Club, “The River Hills Lions Fun Room”. The money is also being used to help underwrite the cost for the production of the School’s 2008 musical program, “High School Musical”. These musicals provide numerous benefits for the students in memorization, acting, singing, signing and dancing.

The Walker Foundation provides support for the students of SCSDB through funding for field trips, experiential learning opportunities, classroom resources, assistive technology, summer camps, emergency needs for children (medications/clothing, etc.), construction and renovation to the school’s buildings and other others of need.

The SCSDB was founded in 1849 by Rev. Newton Pinckney Walker and his wife Martha Hughston Walker when they opened their home as a private school, admitting five deaf children. It became a state school in 1856. Currently under the supervision of President, Pamela Shaw Ph.D., the school offers programs for preschool, elementary, middle school, high school, sensory multi-disabled, vocational and postsecondary education students and various outreach services. Currently, the school serves approximately 1700 students throughout the state with approximately 400 residential students on the Spartanburg campus. Nineteen of those residential students are from York County, and more than 70 babies with sensory disabilities in the county are being served through SCSDB’s Early Intervention Program.

For additional information, please contact Heather Patchett, Executive Director of The Walker Foundation at 864-577-7582 or visit their websites at www.walkerfdn.org and www.scsdb.org. If you would like to make a donation to The Walker Foundation through the Lions Club, please contact Lion Paul Boggs at 803-831-0911.

The Lions Mission “To Serve” and its goal to be “Knights of the Blind” has encouraged the River Hills Lions for the past 32 years to help both our less fortunate area residents and those who need our help throughout the world. Over the years the River Hills Lions have been helping both adults and children in the Clover/Lake Wylie who have had problems with their sight. This year alone, the Lions helped 67 people obtain eye exams and eyeglasses. Without our assistance, they wouldn’t have been able to afford the glasses that are so important to enhance the quality of their lives. The Lions have also donated over 1,200 pairs of eyeglasses that will be restored and shipped to remote parts of the world.

We need your help in two ways – if you or someone you know needs assistance in obtaining an eye exam and eyeglasses and are residents of the Clover School District, please contact the Clover Area Assistance Center at 1130 Hwy 55 E and fill out an application. Arrangements for an eye exam will be provided to those accepted for the program.

The other way you can help is to donate your old, outdated eyeglasses or lenses. Please bring them to one of the 4 collections boxes located at Sweet Repeat, behind Fred’s, the Food Lion in Lake Wylie, Poole Optometric, 121 Bethel Street in Clover and the Harris Teeter in Charlotte (corner of Rt. 160/Rt. 49). If you would like more information about the processing of the eyeglasses, please see www.lionsclubs.org.

If you would like information about becoming part of the River Hills Lions, contact Lion Bill Burgin at 803-370-2828.

Dear Fellow Lions,

Please join us for the”2008 Walk to Cure Diabetes on April 19. This year the River Hills Lions and the Lake Wylie Lioness Lions Clubs will again be raising money in support of Lake Wylie resident, Jake Cullen. Jake, a Clover High School Student, was diagnosed with Type I diabetes 4 years ago. We want to see a cure for diabetes in Jake’s lifetime. With your help it can happen! Maybe you know someone close to you with Type I diabetes…let us know and we will walk for them, too. Please support us in our efforts to find a cure for this debilitating disease. This has been a project the River Hills Lions has embraced wholeheartedly for the past 9 years. Last year we made 150% of our goal! Our goal this year has been set at $7,000…let’s do it again!

We need your help. You can help even if you can’t walk on April 19. The attached instruction sheet shows you how. To make it easy for you to participate, we have given each of you 10 copies of a letter for you to mail. We will keep track of your donations, give you weekly updates of the monies collected if you want and write personal thank you letters for you to send to your donors after all of the accounting is done. Just think, based on our membership of approximately 142 Lions, if each of us mailed 10 letters and received an average donation of $10, we would raise $14,200 – more than twice our goal…… Wow!

A cure for this disease is within our sights. This could be the year and you could make the difference!

Dona Van Leer & Sandy Decker – Co-Chairs 2008

Please click on the link below if you prefer to register on line; otherwise, I will be registering all that I receive checks for.     http://walk.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=walk.walkeradd&chapterid=4482&eventID=3742