Zoo Boise Summer of 2025
The Club volunteers at Zoo Boise during the summer to do landscaping once a month. Despite it being summer, we had to dress warmly early in the season. The Zoo really appreciates the help and we get to spend time at the Zoo and always visit the lion enclosure.
Flock Cancer May 11, 2024
The club volunteered for the third year in a row to be crossing guards for the Flock Cancer Walk. This year we volunteered in memory of Lion Tom Caperon who had organized our volunteers for this year and the previous two years. Lion Tom passed away shortly before the walk and he will be missed.
Food Bank
The club sorts, bags, boxes or whatever, food at the Idaho Food Bank monthly. The Idaho Food Bank works with over 450 partners through out the state and provides 100 thousands of meals annually. We help pack 3100 pounds of elbow pasta during the February.
One of Lions Club International’s Global Causes is combating food insecurity and the Boise Bench Lions Club has several activities related to this issue. Recently the club donated $300 and over 200 pounds of food to the City of Light Womens and Children shelter in Boise. The club also volunteers at the Idaho Foodbank on a regular basis and cooks at Ronald MacDonald house and assists with meals at Interfaith Sanctuary. Globally, Lions Clubs in other countries also work on food insecurity as it is a worldwide issue.
Walk to End Alzheimer's
Boise Valley Lions Walk to End Alzheimer’s
The Boise Valley Lions Team proudly joined the Walk to End Alzheimer’s last Saturday, with about a dozen members and friends walking together in support of this vital cause. The team raised $1,550, which included a generous $100 donation from the Boise Bench Lions Club.
This year’s walk brought together over 1,000 registered participants and raised more than $158,000 to support Alzheimer’s care, research, and awareness. The Boise Bench Lions have been proud sponsors of the Boise Valley team for nearly 10 years, and we continue to walk with hope for a future without Alzheimer’s
Found Kids Booth at the Western Idaho Fair August 15-24, 2025
Copy and paste this link to view the Channel 7 promo for the Found Kids Booth
The Boise Bench Lions staffed the Found Kids Booth. We volunteered from noon to 11PM and have been doing this project since 2014. Parents or guardians can bring their kids to the booth to be registered. This year over 700 kids got a numbered arm band and record contact information for the parent or guardian. Bench Lions logged 291 volunteer hours during the Fair. If the kids are separated from the adults, they can go to any security staff or vendor and will be brought back to the booth. We or security will contact the adults to recover the kids. We often end up with unregistered kids who are reunited with the adults, so it all works out in the end. (Occasionally, an adult shows up as they get lost too.
Eyeglass Sorting
Boise Bench Lions spend time every week at the Envision Office, sorting and distributing donated used eye glasses. This is recycling for good, and many people in 3rd world countries benefit from the donation of these glasses, usually distributed through medical missions. The typical year sees upwards of 80000 pairs of glasses from Idaho, ROAR! Over 60000 pairs were sorted in fiscal year 2022-2023
Vision and Hearing Screenings
The Boise Bench Lions are proud to be able to offer Vision and Hearing Screenings at local schools. The methods have evolved over the years to we now are able to use electronic vision screeners which are a lot faster and easier to use than charts of various sorts. We also are able to use portable audiometers for school screenings.
Copy and paste this link to view a video about vision screening https://youtu.be/7EuuouwHvz0
Sleep in Heavenly Peace partnership
Newest partnership for the Bench Lions in 2017. The club has built some beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace and will be also active in delivering and setting them up, We were all surprised by the sheer need for beds.The Bench Lions and Sleep in Heavenly Peace have an ongoing working relationship. The club delivers and assembles beds for families in the area in need of beds. Several Lions inspected recently built beds to get them ready for delivery.
Boise Bench Lions Club Strengthens Longstanding Partnership with Sleep in Heavenly Peace
The Boise Bench Lions Club recently welcomed a powerful presentation from Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP), the world’s largest bed-building charity, reaffirming the club’s ongoing commitment to ensuring no child in Idaho sleeps on the floor.
Founded in 2012 in Twin Falls, Idaho, SHP has grown from a grassroots effort into a global movement with 372 active chapters and more than 308,000 beds delivered to children in need. Each bed is built by volunteers, complete with handmade quilts, sheets, and pillows, and delivered directly to families who need them most. SHP’s motto is clear and compelling: “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town.”
The Boise Bench Lions Club has been a proud partner of SHP since 2016, making it the longest-standing partnership SHP has with any service organization. Together, Lions members have helped build and deliver over 300 beds, with more deliveries scheduled this weekend—approximately 30 beds will be delivered to children across the Treasure Valley.
Local SHP coordinators, including Mike, who oversees family applications, and Doug, chapter president, shared updates on the growing need in Idaho. Currently, 208 applications from families are in process, with referrals coming from school counselors, social workers, and community partners. The club also learned about SHP’s 7th annual “Bunks Across America” event, which engaged volunteers nationwide, with support from sponsors such as Lowe’s.
“Our partnership with Sleep in Heavenly Peace exemplifies the Lions’ mission of service,” said Rick Vogel, President of the Boise Bench Lions Club. “Every bed we help build represents hope, dignity, and the chance for a child to sleep safely and soundly.”
The Boise Bench Lions Club meets every Wednesday at noon at Casa Mexico, 10332 West Fairview, Boise. Community members interested in joining the Lions or supporting future SHP bed builds are encouraged to visit www.boisebenchlions.org or learn more at www.shpbeds.org
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