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Published: 11 December 2018 11 December 2018

PHOTO: (L-R) - Granville Lions President Bob Tardie and Granville Lions Foundation Treasurer Phil Weaver present a check for $52,000 to Granville Area Food Pantry Board President Jerry McKinney and Food Pantry Director Syndy Anoe. The food pantry’s new building is in the background.

The Granville Lions Club Foundation, Inc. has donated funding to the Granville Area Food Pantry and Community Service, Inc. so that it may have its own building in the village of Granville. The club’s foundation gave the Food Pantry $52,000 to purchase a former church building located on Morrison Avenue in Granville. Transfer of the deed to the property from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany to the Food Pantry took place on Nov. 29.

“This will better enable us to help serve the food insecure in the Granville area,” said Syndy Anoe, director of the Granville Area Food Pantry.

Purchase of the building for the Food Pantry by the Lions Club has been in the works for almost two years. The Lions Club heard that the Food Pantry was losing its space at St. Mary’s Church. Shortly afterward, Granville Lion Ron Barrett learned that St. Mary’s Church would be selling the former church building next to Veterans Park, and brought that information to the club’s board of directors.

The board of directors of the Granville Lions Club began discussions about the feasibility of purchasing the building for the Food Pantry. They decided to pursue it as a Lions “Centennial Project” to celebrate 100 years of Lions International. After many meetings with the Food Pantry and diocesan officials, terms were agreed upon and the process began to complete the sale.

The legal requirements of transferring church property to a non-religious organization were substantial and took many months, including several months awaiting approval from the New York court system. But patience on the part of all parties paid off, and the Granville Area Food Pantry now has a permanent home.

"The Granville Lions Club is extremely happy to finally see this project come to a favorable conclusion,” said club President Bob Tardie. “This has been yet another opportunity for our club to contribute to the welfare of our community, which is what Lionism is all about."

The donation was made by the Granville Lions Club Foundation, a not-for-profit formed in April 2016 as the charitable arm of the Granville Lions Club. As a 501(c)3 corporation, the foundation can accept tax-deductible bequeaths and donations. It also distributes all of the club’s donations to local and regional beneficiaries. The Granville Lions Club raises funds for its donations through its annual patio furniture sale that takes place every May through August. For more information about the Granville Lions Club, contact club President Bob Tardie at 802-345-0480.

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Published: 17 November 2018 17 November 2018

D45 Hunger Service Project

During the January Cabinet Meeting

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Canadian Club of Central Vermont

414 East Montpelier Road, Barre, VT 05641

I am writing to ask your club for a donation toward a service project to be held at the Cabinet Meeting January 12th.  Attendees, working in partnership with The Outreach Program will produce 10,000 meals which attendees can then donate to their local food shelves or the Vermont Food Bank. The project will take about 2 hours.  It’s going to be a lot of fun and will support hunger relief at home and abroad! Here's how it works...

The cost of this project is $2,500. Therefore, I am asking each club to consider donating $75 (or more) toward the cost of this project.   Please make your checks payable to Vermont District 45 Lions and send to me directly at:  CT Lion Brenda Seitz, 724 Hinesburg Road, Brattleboro, VT 05301. Please let me know no later than January 4th, if your club would like to donate to this District 45 project.

Silly math… $2,500 divided by 10,000 is $0.25 per meal.  Your $75 donation enables you to take home at least 300 meals (2 cases) for your local food shelf.  Donate more and bring more food home!

2 cases of Mac & Cheese $75.00

 Please order by Friday, January 4, 2019

Name:  ________________________________  Club:______________________________________

Phone:  ________________________________  email:______________________________________

My club would like to donate _____________  to support this project.

My club would like to order ____________ cases to take back to our food pantry.

Minimum order 2 cases for $75.

Amount enclosed:

                        cases: __________

                        donation: __________

                        Total: __________

Make your check payable to Vermont District 45 and mail to:

CT Lion Brenda Seitz, 724 Hinesburg Road,

Brattleboro, VT 05301

Email: blseitz92@gmail.com

Phone: 802.257.0901

Don't forget you need to register for the cabinet meeting on January 12.  See the separate form for this.

(This may qualify your club for their zone’s hunger badge - talk with your Zone Chair)

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Published: 05 September 2018 05 September 2018

Lions and Rotarians join forces to paint The Gathering Place

Whitingham, VT  –  Recently, members of the Whitingham-Halifax Lions Club and the Rotary Club  of the Deerfield Valley joined together for a three-day volunteer painting project at The Gathering Place adult day care center in West Dover. Alison Ferris coordinated the effort from the Lions’ end, while Lions Steve Betit, Jeanette Felton and Mark Hanna provided equipment. The Gathering Place is a community resource for seniors and others who who need special care.  It provides meals, activities, socialization and even showers for special needs clients.

Here’s a link to a short, fun video Lion Patience Merriman made featuring Whitingham-Halifax Lions as they worked on this big project. You can see how fantastic the spirit was —  and how grateful The Gathering Place is to have their building looking so bright and new!  Hope you enjoy it!

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Published: 18 July 2018 18 July 2018

Understanding the true value of our gift

This year the Essex Lions Club sponsored Marlee to attend the Green Mountain Lions Camp.  For many of the campers this is a rare occasion to be surrounded by other youths that share the bond of using American Sign Language as their primary language.  I met one camper’s father who helped me to understand the significance of this gift.  Outside of camp his son’s only opportunity to improve his signing comes through interaction with his signing parents and those signing enhancement opportunities that they can provide.  Both of his parents have their hearing and had to learn to sign, but their signing isn’t as good as it could be.  Like all Vermont deaf youths their son was mainstreamed into public school, but their son’s public school interpreter isn’t even as proficient as the parents are.  As of 2017 Vermont and Maryland remain the only two states who have yet to establish a certification process for Public School ASL interpreters.  Many public schools view ASL interpreters as paraprofessionals and their actual ASL skillset may be quite lacking.  Camp truly is a place where these kids can learn and grow.

With that in mind here is a photograph of Marlee (on left) on her first day at Green Mountain Lions Camp in Cabot.  It’s a great reminder why we Lions strive to assist our community. 

This week, the 22 GMLC campers will participate in several activities including horseback riding, Circus Smirkus, on site swimming and boating and of course home cooked meals and evening camp fires.

The last day of our 2018 camp is this Saturday 7/21. If you have time please join us for lunch and a quick clean-up after.

We Lions provided an unparalleled summer experience to 32 kids that will help them learn and grow throughout their lifetime.  Camp is providing a foundation of language skills and friendships that are priceless.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!