Lions Club seeks members at event
BROOKLINE – They are Lions, but don’t expect to hear them roar.
Instead, the Brookline Lions Club works quietly in the background, seeking out community needs and finding ways to fill them.
On Thursday, the club is holding an open house at the Brookline Fire Station.
The doors open at 6:45 p.m., and attendees will be treated to a program in which Lions Club members share stories about their volunteer experiences.
“I’m hoping people come with some ideas to share,” said Terri McGrew, a past-state officer in the organization which is made up of 82 clubs and 2,300 members in New Hampshire.
McGrew, who has been active in the Lions for 13 years, said surveys have shown that people join the organization for social networking opportunities and to get involved in the community.
“I believe as Lions that we can practice ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ to touch and change someone’s life,” she said.
Since it was started in 2002, the Brookline Lions Club has taken some big steps in that direction.
The group, which currently has a membership of 30, established annual Valentine’s Day and Christmas luncheons for the town’s seniors group, started “Operation KidSight,” an eye-screening program for children between the ages of 6 months and 6 years old, donated $4,000 to SHARE from its first Penny Sale held last November; and sponsored a bone marrow drive.
The club also gave a portable defibrillator to the Brookline Police Department and donated money to help a local family purchase a van equipped for a person with physical disabilities, McGrew said.
The local club also has been a sponsor of the town’s annual July Fourth parade and of a flag display along Main Street.
At the open house, perspective members also will have the opportunity to hear more about how the club pays for local children to attend a summer camp for youngsters with diabetes and sponsors participants at the Lions annual recreational weekend for people without sight.
Lions also collect eye glasses they send to people in poor countries.
McGrew said each of the 800 Lions Clubs worldwide have varied approaches.
Some clubs emphasize philanthropy. Others focus on service. And some are strictly social clubs.
Attracting new members, however, is difficult everywhere.
“People aren’t joiners anymore, like they were years ago,” McGrew said.
“We need new people, new ideas. We’re trying to grow.”
The Brookline Lions Club open house is scheduled for Thursday at 6:45 p.m. at the Brookline Fire Station, behind Town Hall. For more information call McGrew at 673-2322.
Hattie Bernstein can be reached at 673-3100 ext. 24 or hbernstein@cabinet.com.
