Mission
Our mission is simple, and in accordance with our motto:
We Serve.
CLUB MEMBERSHIP
MEETING: The club meets at 7:00pm on the second Thursday of each month. There are 19 regular business meetings throughout the year along with three social meetings Currently, most of the regular business meetings are held at the Norvelt Union Church in Norvelt. Periodically, a few meetings are held at a different location for a special program or a dinner meeting. Attendance at the monthly meetings is not mandatory to be a member in good standing. Regular meetings usually are 1 to 1-1/12 hours, and dress is casual. A luncheon may be served at some of the meetings, and there are occasional speakers.
INITIATION FEE/ANNUAL DUES: Currently, the club pays the Lions International initiation fee for all new members. Currently, the annual dues are $62.00. Dues may be paid by a single or semi-annual payment. The annual dues include the assessments by Lions International, the PA Lions state organization and the local Lions district, 14E.
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES: Each year, the club holds a dinner in March or April to recognize its initial charter date. Also, the club has a free covered dish family picnic in July and a Christmas party dinner in December. There is a charge for members and their guests for the dinner.
FUND RAISING PROJECTS: The five major fundraisers for the club are the proceeds from annually operating a food stand at the Westmoreland County Fair, the White Cane collections, broom sales, pancake breakfasts, and sub sales that are held monthly on Saturday mornings in Norvelt, weather permitting, along with Friday morning sales to various companies in the Mt. Pleasant and Greensburg areas. Sub sales are usually held on the first weekend of each month unless there is a conflict with certain holidays, and are then held on the second weekend.
The club does not sell any raffle tickets.
OTHER ACTIVITIES: Each year, the club sponsors a local amateur youth talent show at the Mt. Pleasant Area High School. This activity involves two dates, the audition night and the talent show night.
MEMBER INVOLVEMENET: Members are requested to serve on various standing committees, participate in the club’s service activities and projects, and periodically serve as a club officer or on its board of directors.
VOLUNTEERING YOUR TIME: The White Cane collection is scheduled, annually, on several occasions. Members are requested to volunteer for a two to three hour shift for each collection occasion. The fair stand is open for nine days during the fair, and it is also open for two days before and one day after on a limited schedule. Shifts are four hours, and members are requested to volunteer for as many days as possible. Members are also requested, if possible, to sell subs and to assist at the talent show, the pancake breakfasts and other special activities and projects.
COMMUNICATIONS: Our club publishes a monthly newsletter that is distributed to all members. You have the option to receive it by regular mail or by email. Our web site, e-clubhouse.org/sites/mtpleasatpa, has information on the club and its activities and an email, mptlions@gmail.com is also available.
The Mt. Pleasant Township Lions Club was chartered in February of 1948 as a community service club affiliated with Lions Club International. The organization was founded and dedicated to the idea that community members are in the best position to know who needs help and why. The charter members of the club began with the idea to volunteer their time to humanitarian causes in their local and world communities by conducting service projects and raising funds to help those in need, wherever need exists. The Lions’ motto is “We Serve”. Today, that spirit of the founding members of the club still exists in the current members. As an affiliate of the world’s largest service organization, the club’s current members are involved in various projects benefiting local, state, national and international programs. The following are a list of projects that benefit from the volunteerism of the community.
EYECARE: Financial assistance is provided to members of our local community who are unable to pay for eye exams or purchase glasses or who require special needs to improve or repair their eyesight. The members also collect used eyeglasses in collection boxes throughout the community.
THE BLIND: The club annually extends financial assistance to community members who experience blindness or significant sight loss. Annual contributions are donated to the Westmoreland County Blind Association. These contributions help to fund social activities, job training, physical assistance, and a workplace for our community members who experience blindness or significant loss of sight.
LIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL: Annual contributions are given to the LCIF that is the charitable branch of Lions International. The foundation disperses funds in the form of grants for humanitarian services, disaster relief and vocational assistance. LCIF also helps oversee the funding and progress of projects established through the Lions’ primary program, “Sightfirst”.
PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED: Aid is extended to members of the local community who have special needs due to physical disabilities or illness. Wheelchairs and hospital beds are available for those who are in need of special assistance and are unable to assume the financial costs of these items.
NEEDY FAMILIES: Each Christmas season, food certificates are distributed to needy individuals and families in the local community enabling them to purchase additional food during the Christmas holidays.
YOUTH: The club annually sponsors a local amateur talent show for the youth in our community. Also, the club sponsors the Cub Scout Pack of Norvelt and also donates to our local Scouting organizations for special projects and operating expenses. Contributions are made to programs in the local school system for children with special needs. Donations are given to various organizations and athletic teams at the Mt. Pleasant Area High School and also to drug awareness programs, recreational facilities and programs for local youth. Two annual scholarships are awarded to worthy, graduating seniors at MPAHS. The club sponsors students to the annual District Lions Youth Seminar on leadership and community volunteerism.
COMMUNITY: The club periodically donates to special recreation projects, local fire departments, ambulance services and other local service organizations.
SPECIAL ASSISTANCE: The club provides special donations to local community members who have suffered financial hardships due to fires, flooding or natural disasters.
ADDITIONAL PROJECTS: Each year, the club contributes to the PA Beacon Lodge Camp for the Blind, the Westmoreland County Deaf Services, the Western PA Hearing Research, the PA Lions Hearing and Research Foundation, the Lions of Pennsylvania Foundation, Eye Research, Diabetes Research and the Lions Leader Dog Training Program.
FUND RAISING PROJECTS: Our donations and projects are funded by our annual White Cane collections, our Lions broom sales, our monthly sub sales, and the proceeds from the operation of our food stand at the Westmoreland County Fair. Lions’ brooms may be purchased at monthly sub sales in Norvelt or at the Commercial National Bank in Pleasant Unity. Our club extends its sincere thanks and appreciation for the generosity shown by our community members for the supporting our broom and sub sales along with their patronage of our food stand at the annual Westmoreland County Fair.
