About Us:

Lakewood Lions fundraising and community service activities in the 1950s and 1960s included selling light bulbs, fireworks and pizza. Longer-lasting projects included Tasks for Teens (1958-1995), and ongoing projects to help Third World countries such as collecting eyeglasses (over 28,000 donated since 1960) and money for Multiple District's Project CARE (Cooperative American Relief Everywhere). We have also been collecting money for White Canes (vision assistance) since 1969.

The 1970s and 1980s brought changes in name (Lakewood First, when a second club came), membership (women joined) and activities. Recycling began with phone books, later replaced by newspaper and aluminum (ongoing). Other continuing projects include contributions to the Lions Clubs International Foundation (funding 23 Melvin Jones Fellowships), Golden Ears campaigns for hearing, and serving as a distributor for Lions mints for other clubs and throughout Lakewood (ridding our city of bad breath!). An eventual victim of commercial competition was the rental of cages for cat shows; up to 25 shows a year were done between 1981 and 2000.

Since 1990, Lakewood First has added new efforts such as Adopt a Highway, Paint Lakewood Beautiful and the Night of Giving auction (netting $36,000 in 2003). The latter has increased our support of organizations such as Communities in Schools, Festival of Trees (Mary Bridge Hospital), Caring for Kids, etc. Our links with the Chamber of Commerce and other service organizations give us good reason to expect that the next fifty years will be equally good for our club and Lakewood.