INTRODUCTION

The LAKE OF THE WOODS LIONESS LIONS CLUB was formed in 1987 and fully chartered in 2017. It is a nonprofit Lioness Lions Club carrying out service programs and activities, providing community service opportunities for its members, and uniting its members in friendship, fellowship, and mutual understanding. Dinner meetings are held at the Lake of the Woods Clubhouse on the second Thursday of every month (except January). Membership is open to any person at least 18 years of age who, upon sponsorship by a member of the Club and with the approval of the Club’s Board of Directors, accepts a written invitation to join and pays the required fees of this Club.

Activities include an annual fundraising Dinner Dance, a Fall Card Party/Fashion Show, a monthly Book Sale (except in December/January), a spring yard sale, food drives to benefit the Wilderness Food Pantry, school supply drives for the local elementary and primary schools, assistance with the Lions Club Eyeglass Recycling Program, sponsoring an Ice Cream Social and Christmas gift wrapping day at Childhelp, as well as many other community service projects.

The idea of forming a Lioness Club at the Lake of the Woods began in the Fall of 1987 with a gathering of about 30 women. The consensus was that such a club could fill a need at the Lake. A dinner meeting was scheduled for October with women from Charlottesville Host Lioness Club attending to share their knowledge and experience with interested women. In November, the Lake of the Woods Lions Club agreed to sponsor us. At the organizational meeting, it was decided to adopt the name Lake of the Woods Lioness Club with Wilderness Lioness Club running a close second choice. The first officers with Barbara A. Story, as Charter President were elected to serve through the following fiscal year (1988-89)

The club held its charter night on January 16, 1988, with 72 members, the largest Lioness Club ever to be chartered in Virginia. The main purpose of the club was to explore and meet needs within our community, which could be met with our volunteer service. Some of the needs at that time were: Food service to Fire and Rescue personnel; after school program at LOW Church; Sponsoring a health fair; sight testing at the elementary schools with the Lions. Many other ideas were discussed, but these were chosen for our focus at that time: SAFE (Services for Abused Families) and Germanna scholarships followed within the next few years. The first fund raising projects were a cookbook; Bacova door mats; bake and yard sales; and selling golf ball chances at the Lions Golf Tournament. In the next few years, the Card Party, White Cane Days, the book sale, and mint sales were added.

In 1992 Lions Clubs International decided to encourage all Lioness Clubs to become chartered Lions Clubs and voted to discontinue supporting separate Lioness clubs and, as a result, we debated our future. We voted to remain a Lioness Club and our District 24-L and the Lions of Virginia continued to be supportive of the Lioness Program. All through the years, we supported the focus programs of Lions Clubs International such as the Lions Leader Dog, Lions Service Dogs, Lions Ram Project and the Lions Hearing Foundation, to name a few.

In June 2017, faced with the realization that additional administrative supports were needed, the membership under the leadership of President Donalda Lovelace elected to request full certification with Lions Clubs International. Our charter application was approved July 27, 2017, and our charter was presented September 14, 2017. Our name was changed to Lake of the Woods Lioness Lions Club. Since 1987 our officers and club have won many awards. We have continued to grow – from a start of 72 to over 100 active members. In 2018 we incorporated our club and developed a separate corporate foundation with an application submitted to IRS for 501 (c) (3) status. Our fund raising has increased from $2,300.0 in 1988-89 to over $40,000 today. As we enter our next chapter, we can be proud of our history and look forward to upholding the tradition of the Lion motto: “WE SERVE”.

Our Lake of the Woods Lioness Lions Club is affiliated with 44,700 Lions Clubs actively serving their communities in 186 countries and geographical areas of the world. Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization. Its 1.4 million members are dedicated to bettering the quality of life for the handicapped, the poor, the sick and the aged. The motto of Lioness Lions Clubs International is “WE SERVE,” and Lionesses live this motto with enthusiasm.

The Lake of the Woods Lioness Lions Club is not a fraternal, social or political organization. It is a group of civic-minded people who have banded together to do the things they cannot do alone. Lionesses are willing and anxious to give their time, energy and resources in service to others.

A person is rewarded in a LOW Lioness Lions Club by the pleasure and satisfaction of serving others; by improving the community in which he or she lives; and by endeavoring to leave the world a better place. The rewards are in direct proportion to the effort expended. By investing time and effort in club activities, a person receives dividends in new friendships, new status in the community, and a heart-warming sense of fulfillment from doing something good for others. The LOW Lioness Lions Club is a medium through which all of these things are available to men and women of good will

The genius of Lionism is that the local club has complete autonomy in determining its area of service within its own community. In addition to their own local projects and charities, Lions Clubs join with other Lions throughout the world to help people in need. The LOW Lioness Lions Club work to support the following International, State and District programs and projects. We support eyeglass recycling, we work with the poor through the Wilderness Pantry, we support local low-income children in our county through school supplies drives, we support abused women and their children. Additionally, we support: abused children in a behavioral treatment residential program; low-income seniors in subsidized apartments; scholarships to high school students; and single parents at Germanna College. We also support: White Cane; Lions Leader Dog; Lions Service Dogs; Leo Clubs in the high school and middle school; Lions RAM Project; Lions Sight Foundation; and the Lions of VA Fund for Disaster Relief.

Community Outreach – Reach out to the community to research the service and financial needs within the area that the Club might help to meet. Chambers of Commerce, Departments of Social Services, schools, town councils, parks and recreation groups, volunteer organization, day care centers, and churches requests for funds should be made in writing for review and recommendation to the LOW Lioness Board of Directors for final decision and action.

Bridges – The Group Home at Lake of the Woods is operated by Rappahannock Rapidan Community Services for adults with an intellectual disability. Staff provides around the clock assistance with daily routines and transport residents to their day support center at Orange Bridges, where they are sent out to jobs or kept occupied with games, crafts, and exercise.

Eyeglass Recycling – Committee requests checks from the treasurer for the Leader Dog School and the Lions Sight Foundation of Virginia for the amounts allocated in the budget. It coordinates with the Lions Sight Chair to collect used eyeglasses for the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centers and provides Lioness volunteers to work at the Lake of the Woods Eyeglass Recycling Center. The committee oversees any other Lioness activities pertaining to sight.

Germanna Scholarships – Committee reviews resumes of students, submitted by Germanna Community College, who are potential scholarship recipients. The committee selects and awards several scholarships each year.

SAFE (Services to Abused Families) – This committee provides material/financial support, as needed, to the Services to Abused Families, Inc., in Culpeper.

Wilderness Food Pantry – Lioness volunteers support the Wilderness Food Pantry by staffing the pantry in the morning each Friday. Lionesses also collect food from local grocery stores and deliver it to the pantry.