Sandra Gordon, President

Our primary programs include sight conservation, hearing and speech conservation, diabetes awareness, youth outreach, international relations and environmental issues. The Lions Club is unique among service clubs in that 100% of the money we collect from the public goes to serve the public in some way. The club supports itself with membership dues. We uses separate accounts to keep track of the funds.

Recent Activities

Dinner at Marino's with Joe Cataldo - Febuary 10, 2014

Menu: Lasangna, Fried or Grilled Chicken, Stringbeans, Salad, Bread, Beverages (water, tea or coffee)

White Cane Day - June 2013

Food Lion, Victoria, Virginia

Walk-A-Thon - September 2014

Ken Saunders and hs guide dog, Casper, led a White Cane Walk-A-Thon from Food Lions in Victoria, Virginia to Farmer's Foods in Kenbridge, Virginia.

Fruit Cake Sale

November and December 2014

Location: Gallion and Elder Insurance Office (Victoria, Virginia) and Smith's Pharmacy (Kenbidge, Virginia).

Some of our annual donations:

Eye Glass Recycling Center
Central Senior High School
Sight First
Salvation Army
Veteran Wreaths to honor them during the Christmas Holiday

Salvation Army Food Pantry

Renovation Project (Victoria, Virginia)

Salvation Army Before Renovation

Before Renovation

Cutting of Panel

Finish Project

Christmas Dinner/Fellowship at Marino's, Victoria, Virginia

Rainbow Tea March 17, 2012

A skit entitled "Colors of the Rainbow" was performed by the members of the Lions Club. The moral of the skit is that we are all made for a special pourpose, unique and different. Remember whenever a good rain washes the world, and a rainbow appears in the sky, it's a reminder that we all can live in peace.

Music was provided by Dorothy Saunders singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and Charles Welborne playing instrumental music on the Keyboard.

Below is the meaning of each color in the Rainbow:

Orange represents the color of health and strength. It may be scarce, but it is precious for it serve the needs of human life. It carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, margoes, and pawpaws. it don't hang around all the time, but when it fills the sky at sunset, it's beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought.

Blue represents the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without its peace, you would be nothing.

Green is the sign of life and of hope. It was chosen for grass, trees, and leaves - without it, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you wil see that green is in the majority.

`Purple is the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen purple for it is the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question purple, they listen and obey.`

Red represents blood- life's blood! It is the color of danger and of bravery. Red is willling to fight for a cause. It brings fire into the blood. Without red, the earth would be as empty as the moon. It is the color of passon and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy.

Membership Drive

Left to right: Mac Edmondson - Charter Member with newly installed members: Clara White, Thelma Wilson,and Eugene Ingram

Victoria Town Park

Dedication of the Lions International Plant a Tree Program

Zone Chair and Club President Richard Speights congratulates Past District Governor Mac Edmondson at the Dedication of the Lions International Plant a Tree Program. Edmondson is a Charter Member of the Victoria Lions Club and has fifty-eight (58) continuous years as a Lion Member with the Combined Kenbridge Victoria Lions Club.

Left to right: Ann Edmondson, Mac Edmondson, Marlena Saunders, Richard Speights, Mariana Speights, Sue Wright, Ollie Wright, Sue Wright, Dorothy Saunders, and Patricia Watkins

Ann and Mac Edmondson

Community Service - KUDOS

May 2013

18 members, An ongoing activity is picking up food from local stores to give to the Salvation Army food bank. 2 lions for 16 hours and 100 people served. Purchase food at regional food bank for local Salvation Army fund distribution. Ten lions for 10 hours and 200 people served.

April 2013

18 members, Provided transportation for appointments, shopping, and errands for a blind person. Purchased one pair of eyeglasses for a person in need, 1 person for 1 hour. Picked up salvage food from local grocery store for the local Salvation Army food pantry. Ten lions for 2 hours.

March 2013

18 members, Members purchase an electic blanket for an elderly individual. Four people served and donated $90.00 6 lions for 2 hours provided transportation for the blind and hearing impaired to get a new hearing aid checked and adjusted. 3 lions for 2 hours provided transportation for a blind Lion for shopping and errands. 1 lion for 1 hour donated $257.00 for purchase of eye glasses for 2 people. Lions picked up salvage food from a local grocery store for the local Salavation Army - 2 lions. 11 lions for 22 hours raised $660.00 for a Valentine's Day fundraising dinner.

February 2013

19 members. Obtained free hearing aid to be fitted and given at no cost to a blind member of the club. They sent 89 pair of eyeglasses that had been collected to the recycling center in Roanoke. Two lions for five hours were in this project. Donated $400.00 to the Local Food Banks. Some Lions provided transportation at the Central Virginia Food Bank for the local Salvation Army Unit food pantry.

Valentine Dinner at Marino's Restaurant

Victoria, Virginia

February 10, 2014

July 2014

The Kenbridge-Victoria Lions Club continues to be very active. Two of our members pick up salvage food at our local Food Lion two days each week and deliver it to the local Salvation Army food pantry. The food is then redistributed to local residents who need it. The same two Lions also travel to the Central Virginia Food Bank each month and buy food for the same Salvation Army food pantry. They usually buy 1,000 pounds of food and it is a 150-mile round trip. One of the more exciting future projects involves PediaVison screenings. We have coordinated with the Lunenburg County School Board to screen grades K—3 in Kenbridge Elementary School on September 23rd and Victoria Elementary School on September 24th. The screening will take place shortly after school starts in the fall. The Farmville Lions Club is letting us use their PediaVision machine and will train our screening team as well. Over the last several years, the Kenbridge/Victoria Lions have averaged one pair of glasses or service to one person each month. Since our club enrolled in the Eyeglass Fabrication Program with Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, we have provided close to 60 pairs of eyeglasses in less than six months. This program really works!

December 2014

Lions provided transportation for medical appointments and hearing tests for individuals. Members picked up salvaged food at local grocery stores and delivered the food to the local Salvation Army Food Pantry twice weekly as an ongoing club project. Gifts, toys, and food were distributed to families with children at Christmas thru the Salvation Army. (Relieving the Hunger Campaign)

January 2015 Meeting With

Lion Ray Mueller, District Governor

Valentine Dinner - Marino's Restaurant February 2015

White Cane Day October 16, 2015

Autum Day October 17, 2015

Victoria Town

KV Lions Club - Vision Eye Screening at Lunenburg Middle School - November 2, 2015

A vision screening is done to separate those with and without possible vision problems. Vision screening may indicate a potential need for further assessment. We refer participants whose screening indicates a need for further medical evaluation.

Walk-A-Thon - Saturday, November 14, 2015

Virgie J. Dow

Bonnie Alston, Ken Saunders, and Quardel Harris

Theodore Gibson

Saundra Shye

The K-V Lions Club held its annual Walk-A-Thon on Saturday morning, November 14, 2015. The even drew walkers from various Virginia towns and even had a few out-of-state participants. Walk-A-Thon participants were: Saundra Shye, Virgie J. Dow, Carolyn J. Nelson, Quardel Harris, Marlene Saunders, Shareese Harris, Lt. Col. Claretha J. Highsmith, Linda Maclin, Bonnie Alston, Theodore Gibson, Richard Speights, Ken Saunders, and Command Sgt. Emma Krouser.

Adopt A Highway

May 2016

26 Members. May – One member attended the State Convention. Lions pick up salvage food from a local food store and deliver it to the local Salvation Army food pantry for further distribution to people in need of food. Food is picked up two days per week. This is a continuing activity. The club donated to LOVF, Victoria Salvation Army Unit to support the food pantry and other charitable activities, Lunenburg County Ministries to support charitable work, Lunenburg County Health Service to support free medical services to county residents, Kenbridge Salvation Army Unit to support charitable activities, Burkeville Lodge.

June 2016

26 Members. Members pick up salvage food from a local food store and deliver it to the local Salvation Army food bank two days per week. The food is distributed to people in need every day. This is a continuing activity.

Lions buy salvage food at the regional food bank and deliver it to the local Salvation Army food pantry. The food is distributed to people in need of foood in the area. This is a 150 miles round trip. This is a continuing activity. A Lion mowed the lawn for a veteran who is in cancer treatment and cannot do it himself.

July 2016

26 Members. July - Lions pick up salvage food from a local food store two days per week and deliver it to the local Salvation Army food pantry for distribution to people in need of food. The Lions cleaned up the roadside along a two-mile stretch of a local highway participating in the state Adopt-A-Highway Program. This is a quartrly program.

Lions buy salvage food at the Regional Food Bank and deliver it to the local Salvation Army food pantry for distribution to people in need of food. This is a 150-mile round trip event. This is a continuing activity.

Adopt A Highway Clean Up - July 23, 2016

August 2016

26 members - Lions pick up salvage food from a local food store and deliver it to the local Salvation Army food pantry two days per week. The food is distributed every day to people in need of food. This is a continuing activity.

Lions go to the regional food bank monthly and buy 1-2000 pounds of food for the Local Salvation Army Food Pantry. The food is delivered to the local food pantry and unloaded. This is a continuing activity.

September 2016

26 Members - Club members held White Cane Day fundraisers at two local grocery stores.

Lions pick up food from a local grocery store two days per week. The food is delivered to the local Salvation Army food pantry for distribution to people in need of food. This is a continuing activity.

Blind club member sponsored and participated in a 7-mile walk-a-thon to raise money for the club.

Lions attended the "Feeding The Hungry" conference hosted by the Central Virginia Food Bank. The purpose was to improve the distribution of food to the hungry.

Lions go to the regional food bank to buy 1-2,000 pounds of food for the local Salvation Army food pantry. The food is delivered to the food pantry and put away. This is a 150 mile round trip. It is a coninuing activity.

The club provided two pairs of eyeglasses for individuals in the community.

Walk-A-Thon September 2016

Photo by Martin L. Cahn Lunenburg County Lions Club members gather for their 11th annual Victoria to Kenbridge walk to raise money for the club’s vision programs. Ken Saunders, front, fourth from left, a legally blind member of the club, started the walk 11 years ago. He is joined by among others, front, from left, his wife, Marlena (also blind); assistant Quada Harris; Sue Wright; Josh Au, and his service dog, Rose; and Ollie Wright. Also pictured are Roxanne Logan, back, third from left; Club President Sandra Gordon, back, fourth from left; and James Bell, front, far right.

The threat of rain, which didn’t come, and wind gusts, which did, didn’t deter about a dozen people from making an approximately 7-mile walk from Victoria to Kenbridge on Saturday morning.

For the 11th year, Ken Saunders, a legally blind member of the Kenbridge/Victoria Lions Club, led the walk, which serves as a fundraiser for the group’s vision programs. Before he arrived, club Secretary Ollie Wright said Saunders used to use a guide dog for the annual walk, but this year was relying on a human assistant.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Saunders showed up with a teenage boy he’s mentoring, Quada Harris.

“I’m mentoring him to not be like me,” Saunders joked.

Saunders’ wife, Marlena, who is also blind, joined him at the starting point at the Food Lion in Victoria, but didn’t walk.

The relatively small group — Wright said they’ve had 20-25 people on previous walks — started off with a prayer circle. Wright led the prayer, which he ended by mentioning a request from Saunders: to dedicate the walk to Wright’s wife, Sue, the club’s treasurer, who has gone through some recent health issues.

“She’s cancer-free now,” Wright said. “Or, at least, it can’t be seen.”

Either way, it was happy news for the group.

Along with Saunders and Quada, among Saturday’s morning walkers were club President Sandra Gordon and Roxanne Logan. Also joining in was the club’s newest member, Josh Au. He brought his service dog, Rose, with him.

“I’ve known Ken for awhile,” Au said, who indicated he had joined the club a few months ago.

After the prayer, everyone got ready to walk — but not before Saunders made something of an announcement.

“Now, you’ve got to let me cross first. I’ve been first every year, but I cheat,” he said, joking once again, this time about finishing the walk first. “We’ll get to the line and I’ll say, ‘Oh, wait, I’ve got a cramp in my leg,’ and everyone will stop, and then I’ll put my foot over the line and win.”

Lions member James Bell drove ahead with a cooler of water and Gatorade. The Wrights also drove, stopping along the way to act as monitors in case anyone needed help.

October 2016

26 Members. - Lions conducted a quarterly "Adopt-a-Highway" trash pick-up along a two-mile stretch of state highway.

Lions pick up salvage food from a local grocery store two days per week and deliver it to the local Salvation Army food pantry. The food is distributed to people in need. This is a continuing activity.

Lions drive to the regional food bank and buy food for the local Salvation Army food pantry. The food is delivered to the food pantry and unloaded. It is a 150 mile round trip. This is a continuing activity.