Lions want to serve
The objectives of the Lions Clubs are to foster and create a spirit of understanding among the people of the world and to take an active interest in the social and moral welfare of the community.
POLOKWANE – The Lions Club International is the largest service organisation in the world, according to Lions Club of Pietersburg president, Karl Varkevisser.
The objectives of the Lions Clubs are to foster and create a spirit of understanding among the people of the world and to take an active interest in the social and moral welfare of the community.
The Lions Club of Pietersburg was chartered in 1962 and over the years, thousands of people in need benefited from the effort of the club members. The club has also assisted many other welfare organisations to achieve their goals. This included building a hostel for the New Horizon School, a community hall at Our Home in Suid Street, contributed financially to the establishment of Centenary House and the Theunis Fichardt Hospice.
Varkevisser says while membership is low at the moment, the members are still actively involved in the club’s projects and service to the community of Polokwane.
The club’s project, Operation Bright Sight, is a project to assist the needy to obtain spectacles to improve their sight. Sight preservation is an international project of the Lions Clubs. Millions of people all over the world had their sight restored because of the Lions Clubs’ effort to combat preventable blindness. The local club does its part in this project. Members collect used spectacles and the frames and lenses are stored according to the prescriptions and then recycled to people who cannot afford spectacles and would otherwise not be able to see.
Free eye tests are also done at schools by optometrists who assist the Lions Clubs at a reduced rate.
“We also assist with hearing aids where possible,” Varkevisser says.
The club’s Collect-A-Can project runs three times a year during which non-perishable food is collected and distributed among those families that are in need. The club normally seeks the assistance of professional social workers to establish the real needs of a family, Varkevisser adds.
He further says the club actively assists other organisations such as the Cansa Relay for Life and Bikers Who Care.
“To ensure that the money we collect with our projects is spent on what it is intended for, where it is intended for, our books are transparent and are audited yearly, and reports are sent to our national cabinet.
Membership to a Lions Club is by invitation only. Once the applicant has completed a trial period successfully, the applicant will be inducted as a fully fledged member, and membership fees will be applicable.
Varkevisser said although membership was by invitation only, anyone over the age of 18 years who felt a need to get involved in community work on a voluntary basis, could contact him at 082 460 6119.
