A while back I was looking to get more involved in the community, to find a way to lend a helping hand, and I knew there were many great options. This town is full of generous, giving people and organizations that reach out to help others, but it can be a bit overwhelming to know where to start. It turns out that a lot of these great people belong to the Granby Lions Club and a good friend of mine was a member.
When I was a little girl, my grandfather was a proud charter member of his local Lions club for over 65 years. It never occurred to me that I might want to be a Lion someday, too. I thought it was for grandpas. Fortunately, my friend invited me to come along to a meeting to see what it was all about.
It turns out, being a Lion means helping many people and organizations locally, nationally and even internationally. I love knowing that what we have done on a local level has had such impact, including contributing to the Granby Parents for a Safe Graduation, Waste Not Want Not Community Kitchen, college scholarships for Granby students, Camp Rising Sun, Granby GRUNTS Robotic Team, collecting thanksgiving items for Connecticut Foodshare, donating toys for the Connecticut Children’s Hospital, providing vision screening to pre-school children, hosting an annual paper shredding event, maintaining flags that honor our veterans, donating items for veterans in need at the Veterans Affairs Stand Down event, supporting the local little league, volunteering at blood drives, and more. Lions also respond to local disasters whenever we can be of help.
Of course, the Granby Lions Club also contributes to the global causes that Lions International supports: childhood cancer, diabetes, disaster relief, vision, hunger, youth, the environment and humanitarian needs. Check out lionsclubs.org for more details on how we help.
How does the Granby Lions Club do all this? Our members come out, work hard and have a great time giving back to the community at annual fundraising events such as the Christmas Tree Sale, Mother’s Day Plant Sale, Golf Tournament and bird seed sale, all supported by the great people of Granby. It’s a chance to make friends and make a difference, and to live up to our motto, “We Serve.”
The Granby Lions always welcomes visitors to club meetings held the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at New England Pizza. On March 18 Lion John Spatcher will present “An Introduction to the Granby Lions.” Any interested Granby resident is encouraged to attend.
The website is e-clubhouse.org/sites/granby_ct/ or you can call John Spatcher at 860-930-3782 for more information.