The Grand Rapids Lions Club Awards
Lions of the Year: Awarded to the Lions whome has shown outstanding contributions to services and activities of The Grand Rapids Lions Club.
Rookie of the Year Award: This award is for the outstanding contributions to the services and activities of The Grand Rapids Lions Club during the first 2 years of membership.
Henry Voet Service Award: This is for outstanding lifetime contributions to services and activities of The Grand Rapids Lions Club. This is the highest honor.
The Grand Rapids Lions Club Projects
Grand Rapids Lions Club Activities Commission is our clubs 501(c)(3) charitable organization, which supports local and international charities including Grand Rapids Lions Club Vision Clinic at Cherry Street Health, Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Ken-O-Sha, Leader Dogs for the Blind, Michigan Eye Bank, and many others. Our EIN for charitable donations is 38-6077989. Click here to make a tax-deductible charitable donation to help us support these worthy causes.
Drive for Vision Golf A fund raising event that directly benefits the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI) and Cherry Street Health Services Vision Program. The Grand Rapids Lions in conjunction with our sponsor, Grand Rapids Ophthalmology, will raise funds for many programs to aid the visually impaired as well as the under-served in our community. A fun event for golfers while supporting a very worthwhile cause.
Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ABVI) The mission of the Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired (ABVI) is to advance the independence of people who are blind or visually impaired and help prevent vision loss through services and education. ABVI teaches those who are visually impaired new ways to manage their daily lives, so that they can enjoy life and become more self-sufficient. Founded in 1913, ABVI serves thirteen counties in West Michigan.
Cherry Street Health Services The Grand Rapids Lions provide funding for the Grand Rapids Lions Club Vision Clinc that focuses on providing eye exams and glasses for the under-served of
Eyeglass Recycling & Drop-Off The Grand Rapids Lions wants your old eyeglasses. Your glasses can be dropped off at a variety of locations around town.
Central American Vision Mission Each year, Lions collect used eyeglasses throughout the area. The glasses are cleaned, prescriptions read and they are packed. Lions travel to
Michigan Eye Bank & Transplantation Center Each year in Michigan, about 1500 corneal transplants are done while many wait due to the lack of sufficient donors.
"Buddy Day" is a partnership between the Secretary of State, the Gift of Life and the Michigan Eye-Bank for which the Lions volunteer.
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Miracle Fields
The Miracle League has established more than 250 local organizations across the country, including four in Michigan (Southfield, Plymouth, Saginaw, and Lansing). We have partnered with the West Michigan Sports Commission to include a Miracle Field in West Michigan. The field will be part of a larger state-of-the-art baseball/softball complex in Rockford.
Leader Dog for the Blind Located in Rochester, Michigan, this unique school trains more than 275 leader dogs each year and carefully matches each blind candidate to that special faithful companion that helps return each person to a life of increased mobility. The Grand Rapids Lions lead a statewide Lion fund raising effort that has provided over $250,000 to the Leader Dog program over the last few years.
High School Student Recognition
About May 1st of each year, the Grand Rapids Lions provides a recognition award to two high school students from each of the five GR public high schools, the two Catholic high schools, the Christian high school and East Grand Rapids high school. The award recipients are selected by their respective principal and their guidance counselors. Awards are given for a combination of academic, athletic and community service excellence. The students, their principal and the top administrators of Kent County schools join the Lions for a special luncheon for lots of recognition, photo ops and awards.
Sports & Activity Day In support of, and with grants from, the Children’s Miracle Network and DeVos Children’s Hospital, Grand Rapids Lions help visually impaired youngsters have an active day of sports activity. Everyone wins a medal and dozens of visually impaired kids smile and warm the hearts of everyone involved.
This event occurs outside as well as in the school gymnasium. The Lions have been involved in this from the beginning and organize the food distribution, drinks refreshments, barbecue lunch etc.
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Lions White Cane Each year Lions take to the street corners in downtown Grand Rapids to collect money from passers by. This year over $5000 was contributed by the generous people in our town. The proceeds were used to fund programs for visually and neuro-visually impaired children at Ken-O-Sha School in Grand Rapids. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation online to support this worthy cause.
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Children's Christmas Shopping In cooperation with Meijer in Cascade, the Lions help disadvantaged youngsters do some Christmas shopping for their family. Each participating child is given a budgeted amount of spending money and then they are assisted by a Lion as they shop. Santa attends this event and spreads some cheer while Lions help the kids wrap their loving purchases. Breakfast is also provided and the Christmas spirit touches all.
Hug A Tree Project Last summer, the Lions International President Tam challenged Lions across the globe to plant a million trees. Lions responded to his challenge by planting millions of trees – so far. The Grand Rapids Lions Club began planning its tree planting project last fall, with the Board approving the final proposal at its February 28 meeting. The club’s partners are the City of Grand Rapids Forestry Department, the Friend of
Grand Rapids Parks and the Lions District. Grand Rapids Lions Club will be planting 113 trees, one for each member of the Grand Rapids Lions Club (including the Branch Internet Club).
