Lions Club seeks area participants

Dr. Ronald J. Slinn, President, West Windsor Lions Club
President Obama has challenged us, as heirs to the greatest nation in the world, to reaffirm American values of humble gratitude, duty, patriotism and community service. The Lions Club, firmly rooted in these values, provides an opportunity for local residents to meet that challenge.
    Formed in 1917 and now the world’s largest service organization, Lions Club International has more than 1.4 million members in over 200 countries. With a motto of “We Serve,” its mission is primarily focused on helping the less fortunate but particularly those who are blind or afflicted by sight and hearing problems.
    The West Windsor Lions Club – chartered in 1952 as a local branch of the international organization – has a proud record of providing assistance to a variety of charities and individuals. The complete list is too long for this letter but it includes the Lions Eye Banks of the Delaware Valley and of New Jersey, the Katzenback School for the Deaf – (where no-longer-needed eyeglasses collected at several Township locations are processed and recycled) – Lions Eye Research Foundation at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, Blind Athletes, two New Jersey summer camps for the blind , Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic, Blind Musicians, St. Josephs School for the Blind, Canine Hearing Companions…The list goes on, but worth mentioning is the club’s ability last year, in cooperation with Lens Crafters, to provide more than 60 West Windsor citizens with essential eye examinations, of whom fourteen were seniors who now have new eyeglasses that they would not otherwise have been able to afford.
    Additionally, the West Windsor Lions Club provides scholarships to college-bound seniors in both West Windsor.-Plainsboro Regional high schools, middle school awards and assistance to needy families in the township. It also holds its annual children’s “Egg Hunt” in Community Park at Easter.
    How is the West Windsor Lions Club able to provide these charitable contributions that totaled more than $60,000 over the last three years? Through such fundraising events as “Breakfast with Santa” each December, the Renaissance Faire in the Mercer County Park each May, a golf outing in the fall, an annual “Art Auction,” a proposed “Village Antique Faire” and members’ own contributions. Its bylaws mandate that all of the funds raised by the club be used for charitable purposes.
    More than 60 students from both WW-P high schools have recently formed a Leo Club – a junior affiliate of the West Windsor Lions Club. These eager-to-serve young people are already organized to raise funds for their favored charity and have offered to assist with planned activities of the “parent” club.
    We would welcome inquiries from those who have read this letter and are now interested in joining our club, as well as from local businesses that would like to learn how they, too, can support our club’s efforts.