By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Crestline Lions Club is always very busy in the community in December. While sitting in their annual See’s Candies sales booth to raise funds to donate to their many projects, they were also collecting toys for the California Highway Patrol’s annual Toys for Tots toy drive.
On Dec. 18 the club members donated a couple of big boxes of toys to CHP Officer Devin Julien, who stopped by the club’s pop-up booth at the Crestline post office for the toys. Lion Bonnie Hawes was honored to be the one to get to donate the toys to the CHP and help load them into the cruiser.
The Lions are always busy doing things to help others. They believe in their motto, “We Serve.” Their recent firewood raffle benefited a family who uses wood to heat their home, because the winner of the cord of firewood raffle, Diane Gladwell, donated it back to a person who needed the wood. The Lions will be delivering the wood to the family all winter long since there isn’t enough yard space to store all the donated wood.
The Lions have been actively donating the funds they’ve raised from their fundraisers before the winter begins. The recently donated $200 to the Mountain Homeless Coalition, $150 to Mountain Meals on Wheels and $250 to the Guide Dogs of the Desert, plus $200 to augment the $500 grant they received for VOE Elementary School for its special education program and another $200 for VOE’s agricultural programs that support their STEAM programs at the school.
The Lions collect pre-owned eyeglasses year-round and donate them to the Lions International project to enable those worldwide to see. Last month the Lions Clubs in their district donated 694 pairs of used eyeglasses to the Percy Parrish Sight House, where they will be graded for each prescription so they can be distributed internationally.
Locally the Crestline Lions are evaluating two requests for eye exams and the purchase of new eyeglasses for students. The club is especially interested in providing glasses for students as they are aware that vision is essential for being able to read, and reading skills are essential for being a great student. Being a successful student can lead to a productive and a happy life.
The club is quite involved with Valley of Enchantment Elementary School, where they have just donated the items to make a sensory room for the special education program; the room will also useful for children having a bad day.
They are also involved in passing out water during Crestline’s Corks & Hops events and they help with fundraising for the fireworks during Jamboree Days. They also help fund the trash bins located at the entrance to the Heart Rock trail, offering the option of a place to throw their trash encouraging folks to not trash the trail.
Soda can pull tabs are still being collected for the Ronald McDonald House in Loma Linda. One way they are collecting the pull tabs is through VOE school classrooms. The classrooms are in competition to collect the most; the students in the classroom that collects the most will receive an ice cream party from the Lions Club.
The Ronald McDonald House offers free housing to parents whose children are in the hospital. The Lions were told the tabs will be recycled into syringe needles.
The Crestline Lions club meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at Leisure Shores at 6:30 p.m. Their next meeting is Jan. 22, 2025. If being involved in these community activities interests you, come visit their meeting and learn more about being a member of the Lions in the Pines, a local division of Lions International, Contact Dann Lahr, the club president, at (254) 498-2086 or email him at dnlhr1955@gmail.com for additional information.
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