Wake Forest Fest 2024. Wake Forest Lions prepared bird feeders and a bag of birdseed for attendees. The feeders were fashioned from donated egg cartons. Attendees also recieved information on local backyard birds and kids recieved a free pair of sunglasses.
Wake Forest Lions Club packing weekend food bags for Northeast Backpack Buddy program. These food bags are are delivered to area schools weekly and are distributed food insecure students to take home for the weekend.
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Wake Forest Lions holds biannual food drives at Wake Forest Walmart for Tri Area Ministry Food Pantry
Wake Forest Lions Club participated in the LCI Peace Poster Contest. We had 2 students enter posters in the District 31S contest
In October 2023, Wake Forest Lions Club assisted Henderson Lions Club, Oxford Lions Club, and Louisburg Lions Club in providing vision screening to the Head Start Program children
Wake Forest Lions Club held their annual Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser on September 18, 2023
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The Town of Wake Forest will host Good Neighbor Day on Saturday, Septemer 16, from 1-4PM, at Joyner Park. Wake Forest Liosn Club will offer FREE vision screening to children.
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Wake Forest Lions Club mmebers provided the funds for the food to be served at Wake Forest Community Table on July 24, 2023. We provided bottled water and desserts for the event and helped serve the meals . These meals are provided each Monday evening at Hope House and on Wednesday evenings at Olive Branch Baptist Church in an effort to address food insecurity in the area.
Wake Forest Lions Club provides free Childhood Vision Screening to an area Preschool
Members of Wake Forest Lions Club packed 500 food bags for Northeast BackPack Buddy food bags. These food bags are distributed to area schools on Fridays to food insecure students in Elementary and Middle schools.
Wake Forest Lions Club filled 45 valentine Bags fo rthe NC Boys & Girls Home of Lake Wacamaw, NC.
On December 20, 2022, Wake Forest Lions Club partenered with Benevolent Kicks to deliver shoes to children at Wake Forest Elementary School. The chldren who recieved these shoes are children in the McKinney Vento Program. Children in this program are in transitional housing which means that their families lack stable housing and many are homeless and living in shelters or hotels. I wish I could show you their smiles and excited faces as they redeived their new shoes.
Wake Forest Lions Club held our annual Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser at the American Legion on September 17, 2022
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Last update: October 11, 2022
WAKE FOREST NC LIONS CLUB
WAKE FOREST LIONS CLUB AND BENEVELOENT KICKS SHOE SORTING EVENT
WAKE FOREST LIONS 2022 SCHOLARSHIP WINNER!
Every year, WFLC awards a scholarship for a graduating high school senior who attends a high school in or area. This scholarship is for $1000 paid to the institution of higher learning of the student. This year, Ann Heard, won the award. Ann plans to attend Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. She plans to study Forensic Science. Pictured from left to right are President Lion Glenda Grant, Ann Heard, Lion Linda Day.
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WAKE FOREST LIONS CLUB MAJOR PROGRAMS.
Every year for the past 3 years, the Wake Forest Lions Club has participated in the Triangle Vision Walk. In 2020 and 2021, the walks were virtual so we all walked on our own to raise money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness Triangle Vision walk. This year, 2022, the Walk was held at Pullen Park in Raleigh. Above is a photo of our booth and our team. Since we started participating in the Vision Walk, our team has raised over $1500 for FFB.
Eyesight Screening: Coordinator: Glenda Grant, happylady_28@hotmail.com, 919-306-4430: The North Carolina Lions Club has a large trailer outfitted with eye screening tools that scan a person's eyesight in the same way that a eye doctor would do it. This trailer visits our area a few times a year and we set up at a busy store like WalMart where we can serve 50 or so people per day. After being scanned by 3 machines, the person is then evaluated by an eyesight professional. Eye problems are then referred for action and we provide financial assistance as necessary. During these visits, clients also go through hearing testing.
We also have a special Plusoptics camera (which we bought for $6000). With it we can photograph a child's eyes. This generates a report which is sent to the child's parents with the indication that an eye exam is or is not indicated. The reports are then sent to a doctor who will examine the child to determine if the child has any of 6 eye diseases. One of those diseases, Lazy Eye, if identified before the child is six, can be cured. If not, the child may have permanent vision loss in the affected eye. Above is a photo of one of our preschool vision screenings held here in Wake Forest. Below are some other photos of our childhood vision screening events. We not only go to preschools and daycares, but also do Community events and the Wake Forest Boys and Girls Club.
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Sight Conservation. Coordinator: Linda Day: (919) 539-3709: linda6209@gmail.com.
The Wake Forest Lions Club is committed to assisting our neighbors in the Wake Forest, Youngsville and Rolesville Communities improve their vision and prevent blindness.
Over the past several years, our Club has assisted over 30 of our neighbors in enhancing their sight through new glasses.
Our goal is to help those in financial need, who do not have other coverage through their insurance or Medicare or Medicaid, by providing eye exams, as needed, and a pair of basic eyeglasses. Applicants must show proof of financial need prior to approval. At the presnet time, North Carolina Lions has a prograam called VSP. There are certain eye doctors who accept this type of 'vision insurance' and must be willing to provide the specific types of eyeglass frames associated with this program. If the person qualifies for vision assistance, they will receive a voucher which will pay for a complete eye exam and a pair of glasses. We do NOT pay for contact lens exams or contact lenses.
If ypu or someone you know is in need of an eye exam and eyeglasses, and has not been seen by an eye doctor in the past 12 months we may be able to arrange and eye exam for you through the VSP program.
Used Eye Glass Collection: Coordinator: Glenda Grant, happylady_28@hotmail.com, 919-306-4430. We have about 30 collection boxes at businesses around the community where community members can drop off used glasses. These sites are listed on this website. Our members pick up those glasses and we deliver them to the NC State Lion Club Headquarters. There they are processed and packaged for delivery oversees. Lion Club eye doctors distribute these glasses to need people around the world.
Food Drives: Coordinator, Glenn Day, 919-539-3706, GlennDay@nc.rr.com. We set up a table in front of a local grocery store and hand out lists of non-perishable foods that are needed by the Tri Area Ministry Food Bank. Customer are asked to purchase some of the items and them drop them off on their way out. At the end of the day we deliver the food to the Tri Area Ministry Food Bank. We collect many grocery carts of food each time, plus cash donations.
Coin Cans: Coordinator, Ray Prestia, 919-414-0572, rsprestia@embarqmail.com We have coin drop cans at the cash registers of many businesses throughout Wake Forest. We ask you to deposit change or bills in a can to help us fund our many projects.
Here is what we did in the past 12 months:
26 March 2022: Lion Cynthia and others have been working for several months to get a grant of $2000 from The Wake Electric Foundation to fund a Habitat for Humanity project to make repairs to the homes of needy homeowners.
Update: Our club received a $2000 grant from The Wake Electric Foundation, to repair two homes in teh Wake Forest Area. These repairs have now been completed and the pjhotos are posted below:
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24 Mar 2022: Lion Wanda Johnson is the CEO of a new non-profit called Benevolent-Kicks. This organization raised money to provide new shoes to needy children. Wanda shared a story of visiting a home that had several kids, but only half were in school. The others had to stay home that day because it was not their day to wear “the” shoes. That motivated her to dedicate herself to this new mission and to create an organization to make it happen. She now talks about buying 800 shoes. Anyone interested in contributing to Benevolent-Kids should contact Wanda Johnson at 919-624-8393.
24 Feb 2022: Our newest member, Wanda Johnson (center), was installed 
at our meeting. Her sponsor, Cynthia Rizzo (left) and President Glenda Grant (right) are pictures with her Wanda.
22-23 Mar 2022: Six of our members conducted eye screeneing at the Wake Forest First Baptist Church for pre-schoolers. At these sessions each child is photographed with our Plusoptix camera. The generated reports photos are given to the child;s parents who are instructed to take the child and the report to an eye care professional to determine if the child requires any treament.
1 Feb 2022: The NC Boys and Girls Club in Waccamaw, NC requested that NC Lions Clubs make up Valentine's Day bags containing items needed by the residents. Our club purchased supplies and then assembled the Bags at Lion Pres Glenda's home. Lion Larry and his wife, Adrienne, then delivered the bags to the Home. In the picture below Lion Larry (right) presented the bags to Ray Cockrell, Chief Mission Officer at the Home. The bags were then distributed to the children at the annual Valentine's celebration.
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22 Dec 2021: Our meeting on 13 Jan 22 will be held via Zoom, because if the forcasted growth in the Covid Omnicron Virus.
10 Dec 2021: We adopted some folks at the Hillside Nursing Home and gave them some Christmas presents.
9 Dec 2021: We stopped serving others for a few hours and celebrated Christmas by our selves. 28 of us met at the Mengel home for a pot luck dinner, fellowship, singing. See, we also know how to party.
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23 Oct 2021: Today we held a spaghetti dinner as a fundraiser. It was all-hands-on-deck from 4pm to 8pm to cook and serve 100 people at the Wake Forest VFW. It was a lot of work, but it made good money for our Eyesight Conservation Programs.
16 Oct 2021: We held another food drive for the Food Bank at WalMart for 6 hours. It was a beautiful day. We handed out lists of needed foods and asked customers to buy whatever they could and drop it off on their way out. We collected 14 shopping carts full of food.
23 Sep 2021: Our speaker at this month's meeting was Veronica Reardon. She is a interpreter for the blind, deaf and those who have some hearing loss. She demonstrated the choice of colors worn by interpreters from dark to pastel, which improves each interpreter's facial features. She also demonstrated and discussed how interpreters us their hands to communicate for and with folks with dissabilities.
1 Sep 2021: An eye doctor referred an 80 year old man to the Lions club for assistnence in getting to his eye surgery. He is a single, foregin national with limited English skills, living alone in a second story apartment, without a car, who rides a bicycle. His surgery was to be performed 25 miles from his home. Several Lions volunteered to transport him to and from the hospital twice and the night after the surgery one of our families kept him at their home, while he recovered.
26 August 2021: We are collecting $20 gift cards to give to parents of children with cancer. The purpose of the cards is to help parents with the expenses of traveling while there childfren are in local hospitals. Many of them are from long distances in NC.
21 August 2021: We participated in a distribution of school supplies for neighborhood kids at Hope House. At least 150 back packs full of stuff (from many sources) were given out, We also brought our eye screening camera and screened 12 kids. Two kids were referred to a doctor and 2 adults were scheduled for help to get glasses. Four Lions and 2 spouses participated. The Hope House provided lunch for all, plus food bags for all the families.
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7 August 2021: This was the last day of sellilng boat raffle tickets. After 2 months of selling we raised $2624 to finance our Club projects.
12 June 2021:
We participated in the Triangle Vision Walk that started with a picnic at Lion President Glenda's home. The walk raised over $500 for a cause that is dear to our hearts.
6 June 2021:
Lion Larry and his wife, Adrienne, delivered 20 suitcases and smaller travel items to the Boys and Girls Home of NC at Lake Waccamaw. These items are important to newcommers at the home who often come with little or nothing. A suitcase is therefore a spot where they can establish ownership of the few things they came with and also build for a new future. We collect suitcases to support deliveries every 6 months.
3 April 2021: Olive Branch Baptist Church held a COVID Vaccine event in their parking lot and several of our members came to hand out lollipops to the passengers in the car line. This was a marvelous opportunity to say thank you to the community for getting the shot and also a chance to tell community members about the Lions Club and the work we do.
Lion George Coleman handing out lollipops to vaccine recipents.
Lion Glenn Day, Bridgett Wall-Lennon, a member of Olive Branch Baptist Church, and Lion President Glenda Grant meet to set up the lollipop handout.
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