LIONS CLUBS OF IOWA FOUNDATION ANNOUNCEMENTS

A Message from Iowa Lions Foundation President RONALD DONALD
2008-09 has been an exciting year for the Iowa Lion’s Foundation. The make up of the Foundation, which includes two trustees from each of the 7 Districts, is now in place. The 2008-09 trustees are 9NW – PDG Ray Halterman, PDG Abe Falkena 9NC – PDG David Dannen, Lion Dixie Scherff, 9NE – Lion Jack Gorman,PCC Duane Eldred, 9SE – PDG Tommy Tucker, Lion Paul Hain Jr., 9MC – Lion Steve Halstead, PDG Charles Miller, 9SW – Lion Ken Klemish, PCC Ben Neideigh 9EC – PCC Gerald Inman, Lion Phil Larabee.

Having two trustees from each District makes the job of visiting each club a lot more doable.

Each Districts budget commitment is $30,000. This is a very attainable goal. The current balance by District and by Club is found under Donation Information by District. If your club has not yet made its donation, please do so as soon as possible.

The Foundation is sponsoring two programs that encourage personal donations. This year the I GAVE pin is cardinal and gold. This is the third pin that can be obtained for a donation of $20 or more. The Foundation will be giving away two $250 gas cards and a beautiful wood carving of our Lion Logo at State Convention. Raffle tickets are available for $5 per ticket or 5 tickets for $20. The Foundation has received some sizable donations from Estates. These monies are invested in our endowment fund. We encourage all Lions to remember the foundation in their wills and also keep in mind the foundation as a recipient of memorials.

The Memorial Brick area is filling up as more and more Lions and Clubs purchase a brick to honor the accomplishments of both the living and deceased. The Foundation provides two forms to purchase a Memorial Brick. One form is for a club charter brick and the other form is for a singel brick or 3 different sizes of "ganite paver" bricks. Click here to go to the forms page to download these forms.

The $281,000 the Foundation budgeted to raise this year is used to fund 7 programs dealing with vision or hearing. The hearing programs that we support are the U. of I. Cochlear Implant Center, The Iowa School for the Deaf and the Iowa Lions hearing aid bank.

The Vision programs we support are the Leader Dog Puppy program, the Education for the Visually Impaired, the Iowa Lions Eye Bank and the Iowa KidSight Vision Screening program.

The past two years, the Foundation has purchased 40 Victor Stream Readers that have been given to high school age students identified by the Dept. of the Blind. It has been a proud moment for the trustees who have presented this equipment. The students are generally thrilled with this gift.

Our Vision screening program has grown tremendously each year since its beginning in 2000. This year we have recorded record screenings. With the growth of the program comes the growth of financing it. It has outgrown the Foundations ability to fund it and the immediate challenge is to find supplemental sources of funding.

Over the years, the Iowa Lions and the Foundation have partnered with many other organizations to better serve Iowans. We will continue to help, support and advocate for Iowan’s.

Be proud of your club and your Foundation as we strive to serve Iowan’s in a variety of ways.

Iowa Lions Foundation President
PDG Ron Donald