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Photo courtesy of Tri-Village Lions Club
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When deciding what service projects to tackle, the Tri-Village Lions Club takes inspiration from its members. The Give Your Write Arm to a Soldier initiative, for example, is rooted in the interests of a member from a neighboring club.
“The member had a brother in Afghanistan,” says Jane J
arrow, past president and longtime member of the Tri-Village Lions Club. “He had his club write letters (to military personnel) at one meeting and we thought, ‘We can do that on a broader scale.’ It started from there.”
In honor of Veterans Day each year, the club collects letters from the public and sends them to active military members.
“Many of our letters come from school kids. We get schools throughout Upper Arlington and Grandview and, (in) some cases, further than that,” Jarrow says.
The club collects letters from schools as far away as New York to send to military personnel.
Recently, the campaign has adapted to benefit not only soldiers, but also their pets. The shift was inspired by the interests of Lions Club members Wayne Cocchi and Karen Shafer.
“They have a real commitment to animals,” says Jarrow.
Last year, the Lions Club collected money as well as letters to fund the donation of care kits for military dogs. The kits included chew toys, flea spray and other pet-appropriate items. This year, the club will donate the kits directly to the service animals of veterans.
This isn’t the first — or even the second — time the Lions Club has taken up a collection to benefit pets. Previously, the club campaigned to provide for the pets of the homeless.
“We took up a collection at a meeting and on the spot, we collected enough donations to turn it into over 300 pounds of dog and cat food,” says Jarrow. “It’s hard to say no to dogs.”
While the club has always done a significant amount of fundraising, it has recently been implementing more direct service projects.
“These days, we’re doing a lot more hands-on service, and almost all of that service has been based on things that our members found that they were interested in,” says Jarrow.
The club is the biggest Lions Club in central Ohio.
“Our growth over the last couple years has come because we are doing so much hands-on service, and that’s why people join service organizations these days,” says Jarrow. “They want to do something.”
Lions, Knighted
Photo courtesy of Tri-Village Lions Club
This year, the International Lions Club celebrates its 100th anniversary, and local chapters are going back to their roots.
The Tri-Village Lions Club is commemorating the centennial celebration by embracing its identity.
“In 1925, at the annual convention at Cedar Point, one of the guest speakers was Helen Keller,” says Jane Jarrow, Tri-Village club member since 2007. “In her speech, she challenged the Lions to be knights of the blind.”
The Lions Club took Keller’s challenge in stride, and has established sight as one of its defining causes.
“That’s why we’ve always collected eyeglasses,” says Jarrow. “We support activities that have to do with sight conservation.”
The Tri-Village Lions Club will honor Keller’s speech at its upcoming charter celebration. On that night, a member from the Canal Winchester Lions Club will perform a re-enactment of Keller’s speech.
“Since 1925, Lions Club internationally has done a whole lot more, but internally, we’ve always been known as the Knights of the Blind,” says Jarrow.
Isabelle Brown is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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