Lions look to roar for another century

Newman Lions Club last week joined in the worldwide service organisation’s 100th anniversary celebrations.

Club vice-president Dave Garland said it was a great achievement for the club, which donated about $20,000 to the community each year.

“A lot of people still don’t know how long Lions have been around for and what we actually do,” he said.

“We’re always trying to get our names out there and get more members on board. In Newman, we host a lot of community barbecues and hire equipment to fundraise for the community.”

The club has also donated $5000-$10,000 to Telethon RFTS each year for the past two years.

“This year, we are concentrating on Fortescue Festival and Ball in August and we’re trying to bring it up to where it used to be ... it was a great community event for a few years but it has died down.”

Founded on June 7, 1917, Lions Clubs International is the biggest service club organisation in the world. LCI now has 46,000 clubs and more than 1.4 million members globally, who work together to provide humanitarian support to communities in need.

Lions Australia national executive officer Rob Oerlemans said it was a significant milestone, which coincided with 70 years since the first Australian Lions Club started in Lismore.

“We are building for the next 100 years of caring, humanitarian projects to support our Australian communities,” he said.