District Cabinet Meeting - Sunday, October 11, 2020
Global Service Team Reports
21 Clubs participated in Stuff the Bus this year. Results varied but were good when considering all the unknowns and challenges presented by COVID-19. More that $40,000 in school supplies and cash has been reported to benefit youth in of our District.
Ten nominations were received from District clubs for the initial Kindness Matters Service Award. Nominations were submitted by Cottage Grove, Cross Plains, Deerfield, DeForest, Highland, Lake Wisconsin, Marshall, McFarland, Monticello, and Waunakee. Working the Awards & Recognition Chair, Andy Grosvold, the nominations were summarized for a blind vote by the District Exec Team, Global Action Team and Zone Chairs. In a very close vote, Marshall's Food Delivery Project was selected as the 2019-20 Kindness Matters Service Award winner for 27D1 and was submitted for consideration for the MD27 award. Please see the attached for a summary of the 10 great service projects.
I attended the MD27 GST meeting in August: Discussion topics included Stuff the Bus, Kindness Matters Service Award and 100 Acts of Kindness. MD27 GST meetings are scheduled for the 2nd Thursday of each month thru May 2021.
I hosted and attended Zoom Zone meetings for R3Z1 and R6Z1.
Reporting on MyLion is better but not great. 38 clubs have filed reports on MyLion this year. Through September 361 service activities have been reported with nearly 60,000 people served.
2019-20 Kindness Matter Service Award Nominations
Cottage Grove Lions TREE PLANTING PROJECT
As an annual event, our Club plants trees in our community as an Arbor Day celebration. In doing so, we collaborate with town and village governments. In the past we have alternated plantings between the town and village in having them select which park they would like to have trees planted in. Due to COVID-19 extra precautions were taken. We achieved community awareness with a picture in our local newspaper and our project was published in Wisconsin Lions Magazine. This year we worked with community members to decide the location for a new community Christmas tree, used for a tree lighting ceremony during an annual community wide Christmas celebration. The previous tree was removed during a construction project. We are working with several business partners including a local bank and nursery. A member of our club donated soil and mulch in planting of the new tree. We see the lighting of this new tree as a sign of hope during very uncertain times. As the tree continues to grow and flourish, so will our community.
Cross Plains Lions COVID MASK PROJECT
A member of our club took the initiative to make and donate over 5,000 PPE face masks to businesses and civic organizations in our community. She started this project as soon as the stay-at-home orders went into place in Wisconsin in March. The project encompassed over 400 service hours and took place over the course of 8 weeks. The donations helped several local businesses keep their doors open and keep their employees safe.
Deerfield Lions COVID MILK PROJECT
During the COVID-19 pandemic, members of our club decided to organize a milk give-away as a way of saying thank you to the community that supports us so generously and support our local dairy farmers. We worked with a neighboring grocery store to purchase 200 gallons of milk which we distributed through contactless pickup in the parking lot of our local elementary school. At the end of the 2 hours we had planned to distribute, we still had nearly 100 gallons remaining. Members of our club loaded the extra gallons in their vehicles and went door to door in their neighborhoods and drove around our village handing milk out to those who were working in their yards and out for walks. Local awareness was raised by pictures taken and published in the community newspaper as well as postings on our club Facebook page.
De Forest/Windsor Lions VILLAGE UNIFICATION PROJECT
Our club was chartered 64 years ago. As the years have passed, our community has grown as has our neighboring community. Our club contains members from both communities and our donations benefit both communities. Through the years there has been some animosity between the communities, however our members continue to serve both without thinking twice. The Board of Directors has taken the steps to incorporate our neighboring community's name and revise the name of our club. The BOD believes by changing our name that our neighboring community and its residents will feel a closer bond with our club. We are reaching a hand out to our fellow citizens in the hopes of helping to bridge the huge gap between each community and show them that we are all pro-community and working together will make us stronger and more united for what is good for both communities. Although there is no physical project to be seen, this name change will be a new bond between the villages and will show both communities that kindness DOES matter. Our Board of Directors feels strongly about reaching out and showing the love and kindness for our neighbors.
Highland Lions THANKSGIVING MEAL PROJECT
The members of our club and other non-member volunteers provided a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to our community. Providing the space and a large kitchen, dinner was host at the Fire Department. We offered dine-in and carry out; all at no charge to the community. Our dinner provided a chance to help those in need, alone, or unable to leave their home in a time that the local meals on wheels programs do not run. Our dinner was the only event in our area offering delivery to homes. In total, we were able to serve 70 dine-in meals and 14 delivered meals.
Lake Wisconsin Lions COVID FOOD FOR NEEDY PROJECT
During the COVID-19 pandemic members of our club have been working with the Second Harvest Food Bank and the township to help deliver food to those in need. With the pandemic and the loss of jobs in a rural community has impacted our service area exponentially. The need for food assistance has grown beyond our local food pantries.
Marshall Lions COVID FOOD DELIVERY PROJECT
As COVID-19 came on in the U.S., a member of our club stated, “there must be something we can do during the crisis to help other in need.” An idea was formulated to deliver food to those who are food insecure or immune system compromised that couldn't make grocery store trips. We partnered with a local grocery store and food pantry to assist members of our community.
McFarland Lions COVID COMMUNITY MILK PROJECT
During this time of COVID-19, the Community Schools were providing lunches to nearly 140 families totaling 330 children. These families were suffering financial difficulties due to job loss or cutbacks during the pandemic. In a joint effort with a regional convenience store chain were able to secure and distribute gallons of Wisconsin milk each week in May and June to families; in total over 1,000 gallons of milk. We worked in conjunction with our local Lioness Club, American Legion, Sons of the American Legion, Legion Auxiliary, Optimist Club, and the local convenience store chain to make this possible.
Monticello Lions PARK SHELTER PROJECT
Our club installed a Park Shelter as a memorial to a former well-respected community member. The memorial is located near a playground in a subdivision park and includes an upright grill and provides an elegant service area for shade, rest, and picnicking for our community. Members of the family of the memorialized citizens shared in the cost of this memorial.
Waunakee Lions DIABETES BLUE PROJECT
Operation Diabetes Blue is a month-long awareness campaign our club hosts every October. It's a large underrating and the grand event is a fundraising concert that involves sponsorship from many local businesses and a “miracle minute” where concert goers helped raise over $20,000 for local diabetes while helping raise local awareness during October. This was mostly a grassroots fundraising effort. In addition to the concert, the streets of our community are lined with blue lights and we set up tow blue “Mega Trees” as busy intersections to raise awareness.
Respectively submitted,
Bruce Voight
27-D1 GST Coordinator
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