-- Hot off the press! --
04/10/2022
A post shared with us from the Carl E. Dahl House, who were guests at our meeting this past Tuesday.
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It was divide and conquer for the farm staff last night. While some stayed back with the residents to host our guest speaker, Program Director Shawn Hayden and Director of Community Engagement Michelle Dunn (pictured here with Club Secretary Jennifer LaRoche) were the invited guest speakers of the Gardner MA Lions Club meeting. Shawn and Michelle shared information about our program. The Lions were gracious hosts and even surprised us with a beautiful gift for the house, a beautiful blanket depicting various historical sites around the city of Gardner, MA! Thank you so much for your hospitality and generosity!
If you’ve never attended a Lions club meeting, please connect with them and learn about the amazing service they do in our community and around the world. The club is seeking new members to help in their mission.
--- For those who are curious, the Carl E. Dahl House is a therapeutic farm and livestock rescue program that provides residential treatment and sober living opportunities for adult men diagnosed with Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders in Athol and Gardner, MA.
Further information of their program availiable here.
-- As seen in The Gardner News! --
11/18/2021
What an absolute privilege it is to support our local community. Thank you to our supporters, citizens, organizations and businesses of Gardner in helping us make this possible.
Gardner Lions pictured here with Gardner CAC Executive Director. Left to right, Lion Jerry Wheelen, Gardner CAC Executive Director Julie Meehan, Lion's club secretary Jennifer LaRoche, King Lion Steve Cormier.
GARDNER – Nearly 900 men, women and children will be enjoying a bountiful Thanksgiving meal thanks to several local businesses and organizations that donated meals and money.
On Thursday, members of the Gardner Lions Club roared up to the Gardner Community Action Committee building to drop off $500 worth of gift cards that will be used to buy food to fill Thanksgiving gift baskets that will be distributed to nearly 140 families.
“It’s really hard for us to get all of these phone calls from families wondering how they’re going to feed their family on a regular basis, never mind how to make the holiday special and make it feel like a holiday,” said GCAC Executive Director Julie Meehan said. “So it’s just that much more at this time of year to see these donations come in and to see the generosity really at work in the community.”
Lions Club President Steve Cormier said club members are always glad to help the GCAC each holiday season.
“It’s our way of trying to help to give back to the community during Thanksgiving and Christmas too,” Cormier said. “We ask the community for their support when we run our raffles and our different projects, so it’s nice when we can turn around and give it back because that’s what we’re all about.”
As in previous years, the GCAC’s weekly Fellowship Table Meals program held each Thursday will double as a Thanksgiving dinner for the holiday. Over 120 local families have signed up for a full take-out dinner, which employees at the Gardner Ale House have volunteered to prepare for serving.
“Believe it or not, it’s not so easy for a restaurant to donate food because we never really have any left over food,” said Gardner Ale House owner Rick Walton. “So in this case, you just have to make the food, and of course you can’t do that all the time, but when you’ve got a special occasion like this and it’s the end of the year, this is absolutely the time to do it.”
Meehan said Ale House employees volunteered to cook all of the side dishes that will accompany the cooked turkeys that were donated to the GCAC. She added that this marked the first time a local restaurant had volunteered its services to support the Fellowship Table Meals program.
Walton said he was thankful to be in a position to be able to help the GCAC in its mission.
“Nothing bothers me more than the inability of people to eat, the fact that people can’t eat is just the saddest of sad,” he said. “It’s an easy to decision (to help) if you can afford it. And we can afford it.”
Members of the Loyal Sons Motorcycle Club stopped by Elm Street School on Thursday to donate several turkeys its members had collected over the past few weeks. The birds would be delivered to school community families, according to school counselor Beth Tata.
Club members purchased the turkeys from Hannaford’s Supermarket with club money, according to Vice President Frank Lema. He said fellow motorcycle clubs, including the Patriot Riders of America and the East Coast Brotherhood, and GAAMHA board member Jim Trudeau, also helped pitch in to purchase the turkeys.
“We wanted to help out the needy people in our community,” Lema said.
Link to the full article. - Here.
-- FOR IMMIDEATE PRESS RELEASE --
11/06/2021
Dear fellow Lions, family, friends and citizens of Gardner and the surrounding communities,
It is with great sadness that I write this letter to you. A 20+ year tradition has come to a close that we have all loved so much. The Gardner Lions Club will no longer be selling Christmas trees. Unfortunately, due to a death in the family of our long-term supplier, they have decided to close their doors. Putting us in a spot to find a new supplier. This resulted in us finding last minute opportunities that were few and far to come by and would dramatically increase the price on the trees. We don’t believe that it’s fair to our customers and communities we serve to do that. While we haven’t ruled out the option of selling Christmas trees in the future, right now it is time to step back from that event.
From the bottom of our hearts. Thank you. Your generosity over the last 20 years, supporting the Gardner Lions has allowed us to continue to give back to this wonderful community we serve. We will continue to work as we always do, aiding in sight and hearing research & supporting the citizens of this great city. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that has supported us and especially Royal Steam Heater Company of Gardner. Their generous support has been instrumental to our success.
Ending on a positive note!
In the coming weeks, we will be posting information regarding purchasing holiday swags and cemetery boxes. These will be available by order, online through Facebook. We will be posting more information when plans are finalized.
We wish everybody a safe, happy and healthy holiday season.
Yours in Lionism,
Gardner Lions Club
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