A vision for the future: Lions Clubs gather in Destin

Lions of District 35L met in Destin on Feb. 4 for their quarterly meeting for district leaders.  The meeting was held at the Destin Church of Christ and was attended by 91 Lions leaders from as far away as Ocala. 

Destin Mayor Sam Seevers provided a proclamation identifying the day as Lions Clubs District 35L Appreciation Day in Destin, and Lloyd Taylor of Destin provided a wonderful fish fry for all to enjoy.  The meeting was hosted by Lion and Destin City Councilman Jim Wood who is both president of the Sandestin Lions Club as well as Zone Chairman for seven clubs in the area (Sandestin, Niceville/Valparaiso, Crestview, Fort Walton Beach, Fort Walton Beach Sonic City, Freeport and Baker Lions Clubs).

“The meeting was a great opportunity for fellowship, building esprit-de-corps, providing training and sharing ideas on how to make Lions Clubs across the district more relevant to the needs of their communities,” Wood said.

Lions Clubs International is the largest international service club with over 1.35 million members in 45,000 clubs in 205 countries around the world.  Lions Clubs were founded in 1917 in Chicago.  Their work with the blind began in earnest in 1925 when Helen Keller challenged the Lions to become the “Knights of the Blind.” 

Lions worldwide as well as those locally are involved in a host of vision related activities.  They provide eye exams and glasses, cataract surgeries and corneal transplants for those who cannot afford them.  Lions collect and recycle thousands of pairs of eyeglasses and conduct many fund raising activities, which allow them to donate funds to many organizations that support the blind or hearing impaired.  Lions also provide educational scholarships to thousands of school children around the world. 

The Sandestin Lions Club provides four local scholarships to South Walton and Freeport High Schools graduating students and two scholarships to students at Northwest Florida State College.  This year internationally, tree planting has been a focus of International President Dr. Tam and worldwide Lions have planted more than 6 million trees since July 2011. 

Locally there are 27 Lions in Sandestin Lions Club with another 70 members in the other six clubs of Zone 2.  There are a total of 88 Clubs and 1803 members in District 35F, which stretches from Pensacola to Jacksonville and Ocala to the Alabama/Georgia line. 

One of the new district projects is a program called KidSight. The KidSight program screens children age 1-5 with a new digital screener to identify those with Amblyopia (lazy eye) and other eye related issues. Local daycare facilities, pre-K and kindergarten facilities can request that their children in the Okaloosa/Walton county areas receive screenings.

The program is in its infancy in our area.  Since December 2011 approximately 275 local children have been screened.  Current plans identify approximately 500 additional screenings scheduled on February and March of this year.  Lions are working to make it a district-wide program by working with the Lions Clubs International Headquarters to create a matching grant for expansion of the project. 

The cost of the first year to include the purchase of nine screening cameras for the district is approximately $132,000.  Subsequent years should cost about $60,000.  In order to qualify for matching grant funds from the Lions Clubs International Headquarters, the district clubs must provide one-half of the cost by April 2. Any organization can contribute to the matching grant by contacting Wood at 850 269-0196 or e-mailing armyguyindestin@embarqmail.com. 

Lions Clubs are always looking for civic-minded citizens interested serving their communities.   Anyone needing assistance for any of these or would like to inquire about how to become a Lions please contact your local Lions Club. Call Wood or Lion Diane Duke at 850 598-1520 for more information.