Since our club's inception in 1976, we have established programs to serve our community. The national motto for the Lions is "WE SERVE". We believe we have carried out this motto in Cumberland County for all our residents. Here are descriptions of our current programs.
ON-GOING PROJECTS
Sight and Hearing Assistance
Approximately ten adults a month ask us for help in obtaining eyeglasses and 92% are approved. Many of those who are not approved are not eligible because they do not live in Cumberland County. We have made arrangements with Eye Centers of Tennessee to perform eye exams and provide glasses to qualified applicants. In the year ending June 2020, this program paid over $6,000 to provide this service to about 70 adults locally. If you are interested in this service, contact Pat or Skip at 931-210-9938.
Our club can help adults with hearing needs. In the year ending June 30, 2020 we paid $1,200 in such assistance. We can pay up to a maximum of $250 per ear for the cost of hearing aids. The first step is to contact , Clark Zedric our Hearing Chairperson, at 217-520-9889. An overview of the program will be provided. If you are still interested, an interview time will be set up that will also include a hearing evaluation. If you have already been evaluated, bring a copy of the report to the interview. You will be asked about your income and expenses will be discussed. An application, either from the Mid-State Lions Club or the Fairfield Glade Lions Club, must be completed. Based on the application, interview and income you will be informed whether or not you qualify for assistance.
In the past year we arranged the eye exams and glasses care needed for 6 children at the Eye Centers of Tennessee. Most low income children are eligible under TennCare for one pair of glasses each year.
Used Eye Glasses & Hearing Aids
We collect unneeded glasses that can be recycled for use. Unfortunately by Federal Law these may not be used in the US, so the glasses we collect are used by needy individuals in other countries. We typically collect over 3000 pairs each year. Wal-Mart delivers them free of charge to the Lions Recycle Center in Indiana. Collection boxes are found inside the Way to Go Packing and Shipping store in the mall off Stonehenge Drive in Fairfield Glade and in 15 other locations in the area. Click here for a list of other locations.
Mats for the Homeless
Mats for the Homeless began in Cumberland County in 2016 and since then has provided 85 sleeping mats that are distributed to the homeless. Our club started supporting this group in 2017. Our members are encouraged to save their plastic grocery bags and bring them to meetings. These are given to a group of volunteers that use them to crochet the mats. Eight of our members actively participate in the construction work.
Student of the Month
Our Club worked closely with the high school guidance counselors to set criteria for selection of students of the month. Each month during the school year at least one student is selected by the counselors. We recognize 12 students each year (4 in CCHS, 4 in SMHS and 4 in Phoenix School). Each student is given a scholarship for a college, university or trade school of their choice. One student is given a four year scholarship. A committee of Lions decides how much to each student will receive based on need; not all receive the same amount. Our club sets aside up to $8,000 each year for this project. In addition, several businesses have sponsored this program by donating $500 or $1000. Last year we awarded $14,000. The money is paid to the school after the student enrolls.
SHORT TERM PROJECTS
Vision and Hearing Testing
Tennessee state law requires that elementary school children be tested for vision and hearing at every two years. Our club has been providing these services for over 30 years.
Each year our club uses three committees to perform sight and hearing testing on children at the elementary schools, Christian schools, preschools, the county health department and and at meetings of home schoolers in Cumberland County. Some of the equipment we use, particularly for younger children, is quite sophisticated and expensive. VEC, Middle Tennessee Gas and Wal-Mart have given us donations helping us to buy it. Children who do not pass the screening are given a letter referring them to professionals for further tests. In 2019 we did vision screening on 2,652 school children with 288 referrals for professional testing and 12 more for vision development evaluation. Of the referrals, 46 were referred because the student did not have her or his glasses available at school.
KidSight Vision Testing
The Fairfield Glade Lions Club also supplies vision testing for children twelve months through kindergarten through the KidSight Vision Testing program. Since the children are too young to properly reply to questions, an instrument, usually called a camera to the children, is used to capture data about the child’s visual status. The information is transmitted to Tennessee Lions Charities, Inc. at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute in Nashville for analysis. Visual deficiencies identified are forwarded to the child’s school nurse so that the child’s parents can be notified regarding additional workup by an eye care professional.
The KidSight program is provided by Lions on an as-requested basis – primarily in September and October of each year. In addition to public elementary schools throughout the Cumberland County School system, local Head Start schools and local Christian schools may also request screening services.
Two Lions are required to work at each screening. The KidSight team screened 752 children during September and October of 2019; 35 students were referred for additional testing.
Kid Safety Days
This program involves the photographing and fingerprinting of kindergarten children. Parents are provided the cards. The photos can be aged so they can be used to help in case if something should happen to the child later. A local organization, House of Hope, takes the lead on this service project. In September and October of 2018, we helped produce 512 of these safety cards.
FUND RAISING PROJECTS
Reverse Raffle
Each year we hold a reverse raffle which requires prior approval by the state legislature. We typically sell 500 tickets, each costing $50, and have three major cash prizes, awarded to the last three tickets drawn. Smaller prizes are also awarded to individuals through-out the drawing. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, we conducted the raffle virtually and had receipts of over $16,000 net of expenses and prizes. We are required to report expenses and donations to the state. It is our largest fund-raising project. Donations are given to scholarships and charities such as the ones supported by White Cane, a local Lions Club organization that provides financial support to groups serving the vision and hearing impaired, our local Lions District organization that arranges for free cataract surgery, scholarships, Kids on the Rise, the United Fund, Fairfield Glade Resident Services, the House of Hope and the Fairfield Glade Volunteer Fire Department.
Lions White Cane Days
Our annual community outreach and awareness event held in July. We provide information, usually outside local grocery stores, about what Lions do and how any donation helps us to help the vision-impaired members in our community.
Throughout the world, the long white cane is used by people who are blind or visually impaired as a tool for safe and reliable navigation. The white cane is a symbol of the user’s skills and talents, mobility and independence. It also allows the sighted person to recognize that the user is visually impaired. The white cane was initially developed and put into use as a measure of safety, especially in traffic situations. Sometimes the white cane has a red band or strip for the purpose of contrast.
International White Cane Safety Day (October 15th) gives Lions an opportunity to increase awareness of the white cane traffic safety laws. According to the World Blind Union, which is a global organization representing the 285 million blind or partially sighted people worldwide, “White Cane Day is observed worldwide to recognize the movement of blind people from dependency to full participation in society.”
Lions Stride Walk for Diabetes
Our annual walk to raise awareness of diabetes and one of its main sideaffects is blindness and other vision problems. The walk is held in June at Centennial Park.
Our community walk raises funds to provide scholarships for six students to attend the two-week Tennessee Camp for Diabetic Children; several with local ties. Funds also support diabetes research into treatments and cures for diabetes and donations to other charitable organizations.
We have great community partnerships for this walk with the Crossville Lions Club, The CHS Leos Club, and the Cumberland Medical Center's Diabetes Services Group. Three local elementary schools (Martin, Crab Orchard, and Homestead) held walks to make students aware of diabetes too.
Lions Golf Tournament - Suspended in 2025
Each year, usually in September, we hold a golf tournament at on one of the Fairfield Glade golf courses. We do not specify specific recipients for this money, but none of the money is used for club expenses. It is all used for charitable purposes, including our scholarship program, our adult sight and hearing services, our sight services for children, and donations to other local charities.
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