Washington Lions Club sets sights on the community

Washington Lions Club member, Rachel Nicola, invited me to the club's Oct. 28 meeting at the Immanuel Lutheran Church, and I gladly accepted.

We met at the church, and I was introduced to a member who uses a leader dog. Rachel told me about a program that pairs pups with prisoners in northern Iowa. The prisoners take care of the puppies until the dogs are about 12 months old. The sense of responsibility and love for the puppies can change a prisoner's life greatly, Rachel said. They are less likely to commit crimes and end up in prison again. Everyone wins.

Lions members Bill and Kathy Ebert cater supper at the meetings. This night they served a hot chicken salad, steamed broccoli spears and a variety of desserts. The meal was delicious!

I also learned a little bit about the Iowa KidSight program.

According to the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Web site, the Iowa KidSight is a joint project of the Lions Clubs of Iowa and the University of Iowa, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, dedicated to enhancing the early detection and treatment of vision impairments in Iowa's young children (target population 6 through 48 months of age) through screening and public education.

Rachel said that the Lions Club organization at large became dedicated to helping people with vision problems after Helen Keller spoke to the international Lions Convention on June 30, 1925.

Her speech to the convention ended with these remarks: "I appeal to you Lions, you who have your sight, your hearing, you who are strong and brave and kind. Will you not constitute yourselves Knights of the Blind in this crusade against darkness?"

(Keller became blind and deaf after suffering a fever when she was 18 months old. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, was able to break through the dark and silent world Keller lived in. Keller learned sign language and braille, and eventually learned to speak.)

The Lions accepted her challenge.

The Washington Lions Club has helped with many local projects, including helping children and adults with the cost of eyeglasses, providing funding for the new stage near the schoolhouse on the Washington County Fairgrounds, assisting in getting hearing aids and molds for local people, and making contributions to other worthy causes.

The local club has about 35 members and they would welcome more.

The Lions Clubs of Iowa's motto is "We serve."

I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting and the very warm welcome I received.