SOUTH BEND LIONS CLUB
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
PAST AND PRESENT
The South Bend Lions
Club is a non-profit organization composed of local business and professional
persons united together in close bonds of loyal and enthusiastic
fellowship. They are devoted to those
principles of community betterment and unselfish moral and material assistance
to the worthy unfortunate, regardless of race, creed or color.
The South Bend Lions
Club is the third oldest in Indiana (after Indianapolis and Lafayette). It was granted a charter by the International
Association of Lions Clubs on March 21, 1921.
The Charter contains the names of 50 business and professional leaders
of the South Bend area. The Club’s last
charter member, Forest G. Hay, a 62 year member died March 12, 1980 at age
88.
During its history, the
South Bend Club has sponsored other clubs in Mishawaka, Clay Township,
Lakeville, Walkerton, North Liberty, Rochester, LaPaz, Argos, LaPorte, and
Michigan City. The Club has hosted state
conventions in 1922, 1931, 1944, 1959, 1980, and served as co-host in
1973. During its time, the Club has been
honored with the election of six of its members as district governors.
Since being established,
the Club has had 84 presidents and each of these administrations has left a
legacy of accomplishment and service much too lengthy to chronicle here. However, following are some of the major
community innovations and achievements that are recorded in our historical
files:
· Conceived
and formed the South Bend Civic Music Association (1926) and the city’s Junior
Baseball Association (1944).
· In
its early days, expended thousands of dollars constructing buildings at the
former Boy Scout camp near Wakelee, Michigan and at Camp Darden on the
Healthwin Hospital grounds. The Club
also provided support to YWCA building projects.
· In
the early thirties, the Club spearheaded the movement to build an international
shrine dedicated to the French explorer LaSalle and raised $150,000 for its
construction. Also, during the Great
Depression, the Club joined with other civic organizations in sponsoring
projects that raised monies for the City Unemployment Fund.
· The
Club in conjunction with other area Lions Clubs initiated and supported the
county-wide TTY hearing service prior to its becoming an established service
now supported from a small fee collected as part of monthly telephone charges.
· Through
special fund raising efforts, the Club donated specialized equipment needed by
the area’s three school corporations for use by visually impaired students.
· The
Club is greatly proud of raising and spending over $75,000 during the past
several years to provide vision exams and eyeglasses to needy children and
adults. The Club has also provided eye
related medical equipment to the area’s health care facilities as well as
financial support for local blind residents to obtain a leader dog and attend
the Lions Club Leader Dog School.
Subsidizing the cost of eye exams and glasses to needy residents of our
community continues to be the club’s major service activity.
· Starting
in 1984, the Club has awarded an annual scholarship (currently for $1000) to a
graduate of one of the South Bend high schools.
The Club is now negotiating with the St. Joseph County Scholarship
Foundation to establish a perpetual endowed scholarship. This award will honor a long time member of
the Club, William Ulbricht, who left a bequest to the Club with his desire that
it be used to create a long-term community legacy for the South Bend Lions
Club. The Club through its fund raising
projects will donate additional funds sufficient to establish the endowment to
support this long-term scholarship commitment.
· Other
major projects supported by the South Bend Lions Club have included support
of the Indiana
Lions Cancer Control Program, QUEST Skills for Adolescents, Boy Scouts, Special
Olympics, the Indiana Lions and St. Joseph County Eye Banks, State Lions speech
and hearing services/projects, and statewide diabetes education programs.
· The
Club has made numerous contributions to several local agencies serving the
needy of our community in a variety of ways.
Included have been the Red Cross, the Homeless Center, Hope Rescue
Mission, Camp Milhouse, local food pantries, and several others. The Club for several years conducted a
Christmas Party for the blind residents of the County. Club members over the years have volunteered
as Salvation Army Bell Rings. The Club has
donated funds to the local Reins of Life organization, which conducts a therapeutic
equestrian program for people with disabilities.
· Since
1944, the Club has honored eleven of its members by naming them Melvin Jones
Fellows and donating $1000 for each named Fellow to the Lions Clubs
International Foundation to support special projects worldwide.
To support our community
and charitable efforts, the Club conducts fund raising projects throughout the
year. As noted by the following listing,
these fund raisers have been varied and numerous over the years (it
should be noted that all proceeds from these fund raisers are devoted to our
community and charitable undertakings):
· Culturally
the Club has sponsored fund raising events such as operas, musical concerts,
and Passion Plays. Also, some
not-so-culturally vaudeville shows, fun nights, and raffles. The Club has sponsored athletic fundraisers
including professional football and basketball games featuring among others the
Chicago Bears and the Harlem Globetrotters.
For several seasons, the Club participated with the South Bend White Sox
in sponsoring a baseball benefit game to raise funds for needy vision projects
throughout the city and school districts.
· For
approximately forty years the Club raised charity funds by sponsoring narrated
travel films in O’Laughlin Auditorium on the Saint Mary’s College campus. Club members also raised monies by selling
coloring books during the Saint Mary’s Christmas Bazaar. For the past several years and currently,
Club members raised funds by providing ushering services for Saint Mary’s graduation
weekend.
· The
Club from time to times does special Candy Day Sales to raise funds needed for
special one-time projects. The Club now
offers annually a one-day Port-A-Pit sale to support our general charitable
efforts. The South Bend Club also
participates with the Mishawaka and Clay Township Clubs in an annual holiday
fruit sale.
· Our
current major fundraiser is the annual Continental Divide Bicycle Ride. The event (in its 9th year in
2007) is held in September and currently is based at Bendix Woods County
Park. The ride features 10, 20, 40, and
60 mile routes through scenic roads of St. Joseph and LaPorte Counties. Riders are attracted from a wide area of northern
Indiana. Southwestern Michigan and eastern Illinois including Chicago. As part of the event, a pancake breakfast is
provided and prizes donated by local businesses are awarded.
The primary goal of the
South Bend Lions Club is to aid and comfort the blind and near blind. However, from the above listings it is quite
apparent that our charitable and contributory efforts extend well beyond this
primary mission.
While all too brief,
this glimpse of the past should encourage today’s Lions to look with pride and
confidence to the achievements of the future.
W E S E R V E