A Brief History of the Langley Lions

The club was chartered on June 12, 1944 as the Langley Prairie Lions Club.  The name was subsequently changed to the Langley Lions Club.  The club has been very active throughout its history, providing assistance to people and groups in need within our community as well as internationally.  Membership is comprised of people from all walks of life, both male and female.

Some activities from the early days in our local community:

• Building the paddling pool at the Athletic Park in Langley
• Financially supported Langley Minor Hockey
• Purchased an Easter Seal bus to transport people with physical handicaps
• Provided scholarships to assist our youth with their education beyond the high school level
• Funded the purchase a “Jaws for Life” for the Langley Fire Department
• In 1972 formed the Langley Lions Senior Citizens Housing Society to help provide affordable housing for seniors in the Langley community
• Entered in the Langley Fair Days for numerous years with a float to promote and support the community

Langley Lions Club Activities:

• The annual Mothers Day Breakfast fundraiser was started in 1961. Today we continue to provide pancake breakfasts at a number of events throughout the community.
• We have operated a weekly Bingo since the 1980’s and presently hold the bingo at the Evergreen Timbers events hall every Tuesday. This includes the concession stand with our delicious hot dogs.
• For many years we have provided refurbished manual and electric wheelchairs and walkers to those less fortunate and continue to support them by helping maintain the items.
• One of our major fundraising projects is a mobile food concession we take to various community and corporate events in the Fraser Valley.  We have also had a concession booth and raffle at the Langley Cruise-In for many years.
• The Langley Lions have been ringing the bells every Christmas at multiple locations to generate substantial donations for the Langley Christmas Bureau.
• In January 2010, we took over management of the West Langley Hall by renting out the facility to various community and private event groups.
• We decorate, with individual names, Easter Eggs at Walmart for the two weeks prior to Easter on a donation basis.

Langley Lions Service Projects:

• We support Douglas Park Elementary School, an inner city school, with funding to ensure the schooling is year round as well as provide a number of pancake breakfasts throughout the year.
• We support the annual RCMP Cadet Camp each summer with a nutrious lunch at no cost.
• We have participated in collecting and delivering two containers of used medical equipment to people in need in Honduras.
• Our District “H” operates, Camp Horizon in Blaine, Washington, a summercamp for physically or mentally challenged people of all ages with the campers come from BC and Washington State. We provide volunteer labour each year for camp clean-up, volunteer a day or two at each camping session as well as provide camperships.
• The club supports the Lions Foundation of Canada (LFC). Donations provide people throughout Canada with a trained dog to give blind, hearing impaired and special need recipients a level of independence that they never had.
• Through “Lions Project Pride”, a project of LFC, we give each grade one student, in 13 Langley schools, a Canadian flag and an article on what the flag represents.
• We support the Lions Clubs International Foundation with funding as they in turn provide much needed assistance to people and countries that experience catastrophic events like hurricanes and tidal waves.