The results are in! A huge thank you to Lion Sue B. for taking the lead and performing solo in providing vision screening in Yakutat this weekend. Lion Sue screened 40 people with 6 referrals! Thanks, Lion Sue!
Lion Mike N.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
A Thank You
The Lions motto is We Serve! And we do it because we want to. Because we want to make a difference. For no other reason.
But our rewards are many.
For the thank you from the mother who didn't know her child couldn't see....
For the homeless person who gets funding for glasses that he might not have otherwise been able to afford....
For helping to pay a young man's medical expenses after having surgery to save his sight....
For giving the gift of a bicycle to a young child who might otherwise have a grim Christmas....
Yes, our rewards are many.
But take a look at the following sequence of pictures.
This is my granddaughter.
We went to her preschool earlier this month and did vision screening.
The kids made this "thank you" for us.
THIS is why we do what we do!
Lion Mike
Friday, April 20, 2012
Peddling Along
Earlier this year, Janet L. of S.A.I.L. (SE Alaska Independent Living) was a guest speaker at one of our meetings. S.A.I.L. is a non-profit organization that assists people with low vision and other challenges, to live independently. Janet came to our meeting to explain what S.A.I.L. does and to see if there was an opportunity for us to work together.
Yesterday, out of the blue, I heard from Janet. She started telling me about an older man who had suffered a head injury and is now disabled. He was looking for a mode of transportation where he could also get some exercise. Janet was using me as a sounding board to see if I knew where she might find one!
Little did she know that she hit the nail on the head by calling the Mendenhall Flying Lions because it just so happens we have 22 bicycles being restored as part of our Bicycle Recycle Project! A quick call to Lion Mike A. (who heads up our bicycle project) and we're good to deliver a bike in the next couple days!
Teams working together!
Lion Mike N.
Yesterday, out of the blue, I heard from Janet. She started telling me about an older man who had suffered a head injury and is now disabled. He was looking for a mode of transportation where he could also get some exercise. Janet was using me as a sounding board to see if I knew where she might find one!
Little did she know that she hit the nail on the head by calling the Mendenhall Flying Lions because it just so happens we have 22 bicycles being restored as part of our Bicycle Recycle Project! A quick call to Lion Mike A. (who heads up our bicycle project) and we're good to deliver a bike in the next couple days!
Teams working together!
Lion Mike N.
Busted
Our Tail Twister, Lion Chad, is johnny on the spot! He doesn't let us get away with anything. Phone on during a meeting? Give him a buck! Talk out of turn during a meeting? Give him a buck! Start the meeting late? Give him a buck! Yes, I was guilty at this week's meeting and started two minutes late!
Lion Chad has had events at most every meeting and has added considerably to the Tail Twister account! Thank you, Lion Chad, for doing a great job as Tail Twister and Lion Tamer!
Lion Mike N.
Lion Chad has had events at most every meeting and has added considerably to the Tail Twister account! Thank you, Lion Chad, for doing a great job as Tail Twister and Lion Tamer!
Lion Mike N.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Lion Coco and the KanakAttack
While on vacation on Kauai recently, I had the privilege of attending a breakfast meeting of the North Shore Lions Club. This is an active group of about 43 Lions. Their main fundraiser is a pancake breakfast with hula dancers! I think we all need to do one of those!
I met one of their more colorful members--Lion Coco--who is a Native Hawaiian, friendly, and the entertainer of the Club! Lion Coco performs at the Tahiti Nui restaurant and bar in Hanalei (same place Puff the Magic Dragon was filmed) and invited us to join him.
We're walking downtown Hanalei, which consists of about two blocks, trying to find him, when we were directed to what I would describe as a shack... only to wonder if we really DID want to go inside.... A good lesson was learned that night--don't judge a book by its cover! Not only did we find Lion Coco (and his nephew Darrell), but he found us a seat right up front where we got to enjoy his singing for the next few hours as well as eat the best meal of our trip.
We're walking downtown Hanalei, which consists of about two blocks, trying to find him, when we were directed to what I would describe as a shack... only to wonder if we really DID want to go inside.... A good lesson was learned that night--don't judge a book by its cover! Not only did we find Lion Coco (and his nephew Darrell), but he found us a seat right up front where we got to enjoy his singing for the next few hours as well as eat the best meal of our trip.
We'll never forget our visit to the Tahiti Nui restaurant and our new friend in Lion Coco. And if you get a chance to see the movie, The Descendants.... that would be Lion Coco singing in the bar towards the end of the movie--the one with the white hair! Check it out!
Aloha!
Lion Mike N.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Vision Screening--Auke Bay Co-op
We broke the ice with pre-schools in town this week and provided vision screening at Auke Bay Co-op Preschool (Chapel by the Lake). This was achieved through connections with my grandaughter who goes to preschool there.
This was a two-day event because it covered two age groups. Some kids went Tuesday/Wednesday (ages 3 and 4) and the older kids (ages 4 and 5) went Monday/Wednesday/and Friday. Lions Neil, Joe, Mal, and myself screened 30 pre-schoolers and referred 3. Parents of two of the referrals suspected their child's eyes were bad, but hadn't pursued it. The other referral was so far outside the parameters of the machine that we couldn't get a reading! Two of the children were scared and wouldn't let us test their eyes. We even had two "drop ins" (toddlers) who came with the Administrator of the school and one of the parents.
Each child received a smiley face sticker after their screening and we're pleased to announce that the winning colors were pink and purple!
Each day took a little over an hour of screening, which computes to about two minutes per child. This included the data entry time which went quickly because Ms. Trish gave us the name of the next child as the previous one was sitting so we could enter the data early and be ready to screen when the child sat down. The Administrator of the pre-school has asked that we return next year.
All in all, this was a great screening event!
We Serve!
Mike N.
President
This was a two-day event because it covered two age groups. Some kids went Tuesday/Wednesday (ages 3 and 4) and the older kids (ages 4 and 5) went Monday/Wednesday/and Friday. Lions Neil, Joe, Mal, and myself screened 30 pre-schoolers and referred 3. Parents of two of the referrals suspected their child's eyes were bad, but hadn't pursued it. The other referral was so far outside the parameters of the machine that we couldn't get a reading! Two of the children were scared and wouldn't let us test their eyes. We even had two "drop ins" (toddlers) who came with the Administrator of the school and one of the parents.
Each child received a smiley face sticker after their screening and we're pleased to announce that the winning colors were pink and purple!
Each day took a little over an hour of screening, which computes to about two minutes per child. This included the data entry time which went quickly because Ms. Trish gave us the name of the next child as the previous one was sitting so we could enter the data early and be ready to screen when the child sat down. The Administrator of the pre-school has asked that we return next year.
All in all, this was a great screening event!
We Serve!
Mike N.
President
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