West Carver Lions Projects
Spring Flower Sale: This will be held on Saturday, May 11, 2024 in the Home Solutions (Faxon Rd north of Hwy 212) parking lot from 7:30 am until plants are gone. Proceeds will be used to fund our community projects throughout the year.
Music in the Park: This takes place in the summer when the community puts on its weekly music events in the Legion Pool Park, organized by ISD #108 Community Education. We team up with our sibling Club (the NYA Lions) to help with the corn feed and to serve other food items.
National Night Out: This national celebration occurs the first Tuesday in August, and in Norwood Young America has been coordinated by our Club since 2009. We reach out to many local agencies, businesses, and organizations to bring the benefiits of community awareness and involvement to all of our residents in Norwood Young America. Our Club also focuses on making the park and the event hospitable to everyone by serving food that evening.
Stiftungsfest Gates: This committee is in charge of planning all the shifts for working the Stiftungsfest grounds entrance gates positions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Stiftungsfest. Stiftungsfest typically occurs the last weekend in August before Labor Day. It is a fundraiser for our community's Fire Department. The gates are a super fun commitment by our Club, and we look forward to meeting new people and community visitors each year when we staff the gates.
Stiftungsfest Craft Fair: This event happens each year along with the Stiftungsfest celebration. Our Lions volunteers organize a Craft Fair (operated from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) the Saturday of Stiftungsfest on the streets near the festival grounds. Preparation for this event requires contacting and advertising for vendors many months before the event. Contact us at nyawestcarverlions@gmail.com for more information. Vendor information is available at www.Stiftungsfest.org. Download all forms from that website.
Stiftungsfest Flower Baskets: Each year our Club submits an order to a local nursery for large, bountiful-looking, hanging flower baskets that are displayed each August during our community's annual Stiftungsfest festival. Toward the end of the event, on the Sunday evening, the baskets are sold for small amount to festival goers.
Dictionary: This activity provides the third grade children in the surrounding schools with a dictionary to use, each with a customized label inside the cover. Our Club coordinates this effort with the assistance of the local teachers. The dictionaries are customarily handed out in September or October of each year.
Lions Write Off Essay Contest: Each year the 5M2 District Lions sponsor a Write Off Essay Contest based on a particular topic. The contest is open to 9-12th grade students. The West Carver Lions Club works with two other local Lions clubs in the Central School District 108 to select a winner for each local club. The winner of the essay contest at the Club level will move on to compete at the Zone Level.
Peace Poster: Every year the International Lions host a peace poster contest for local school children. Our Club's Peace Poster Committee is responsible for providing the materials, collecting the posters, and judging the posters for a winner. The winners are presented with their cash winnings at a Club meeting, and their posters move on to the next level of competition. This activity occurs during September or October every year.
Harvest Moon Wine Tasting: This is usually held on the 4th Friday in October. Good Time Liquors and our club work together bringing in wine and spirit vendors and local food vendors to sample spirits and food. We also have a silent auction with wonderful prizes from local businesses. Tickets are sold in advance with the help of Joe and Danielle of Good Time Liquors. Look forward to it again in 2024
Christmas Cookies: This is a new fundraiser that our Club started a few years ago. We accept orders for pre-cut, frozen, Christmas Cookies and Gingerbread Cookies that are ready for baking and decoration. The cookies are delivered to our Club frozen and in conveniently stackable holiday-colored boxes. Each of our Club's members will have forms each autumn to take orders from friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc.
Poinsettias Project: Each January our Club submits an order to a local nursery for several dozen poinsettias. Those plants are then picked up by Club volunteers late November or early December and delivered to residents of the various senior living facilities in Norwood Young America. We work with the NYA Lions to get all of these plants delivered in a matter of hours. We then gather at the Lions / Sports Complex in NYA for smiles, fellowship, and a potluck dinner.
Breakfast With Santa: This activity begins preparation in June and occurs the first Saturday in December. The community event is free of charge for children to see Santa and Mrs. Claus, and to receive a gift. Breakfast is available for a nominal charge. Santa provides a toy or gift bag and the kids get the opportunity to visit with him and Mrs. Claus before the holiday. This event requires a lot of behind the scenes preparations, from requesting donations from the community, to purchasing the gifts, to preparing the food the morning of the event. It has been a labor of love for 30 + years.
Holiday Party: This event is strictly for our members during the December holiday season. It is in place of our usual general meeting. It is an informal meeting that gives us time to relax, visit, and get to know our fellow members!
Nancy Zumberge Memorial Scholarship: Our Club sponsors a scholarship every year, and works with the guidance offices of Central Public High School and Mayer Lutheran High School. This committee is responsible for the review of all applications and selecting a recipient for the scholarship.
Post Prom: This Committee is in charge of selecting donations for the post-prom parties organized by Central Public High School and Mayer Lutheran High School.
Willkommen Park: Our Club officially "adopted" Willkommen Park in Norwood Young America in April 2012. Our Club's volunteers usually gather late-April or early May to complete a park-wide Spring clean-up, and also revisit it periodically throughout the growing season to help keep it tidy.
Spring Geranium Planting: Each year, on a day or two near Mother's Day, our Club's members assemble a variety of nursery-grown young geranium plants, some pots, and potting soil, and gather at Peace Village to help our community's senior citizens plant geraniums.
Year Long Committees and Programs
Children of our Community: This is a year long program funded by our Lions to provide for the children in our school systems. This program is on a request basis and items are provided for the children who are in need, the identities of whom are never shared with the Club. Certain Members of our Club are contacted if there is a need, and we are expected to fill that need as soon as possible.
KidSight: According to educational experts, 80% of learning is visual. So if a child can’t see well, she or he can’t learn well. Yet most young children don’t get their vision screened until they have problems learning or paying attention in school. By then, it may already be too late. Unless vision problems are detected early and corrected, they risk becoming permanent by age 7. Lions in the USA screen over a million kids per year through state-wide and local programs often known as “KidSight.” Members of our Club have been trained to conduct vision screening and have been doing so in Norwood Young America since 2017. Our Club is committed to ensuring that eye screening and follow-up care are given to all kids starting at six months old, because every child deserves to learn and see the world clearly.
Seniors of Our Community: This is a year long program funded by our Club to help provide for elderly community members. This program is on a request basis and items are provided for the individuals who are in need, the identities of whom are never shared with the members of the Club.
Eye Glasses and Hearing Aids Collection: Throughout the year, our Club's volunteers collect used eyeglasses, hearing aids, and hearing aid batteries, and deliver them to regional Lions eyeglass recycling centers, whose volunteers clean, sort, and re-package them. These recycled items are then distributed to people in need in low and middle income communities where they will have the greatest impact. Southwest Eye Care in Norwood Young America displays a box in which these items can be placed for donation to the Lions.
Membership: This committee is a three year commitment, and expections and guidelines for the members of this committee are detailed in the club's Bylaws. The committee’s goals include finding new members, welcoming new members into the Club, and helping each new member's sponsor provide orientation assistance to the new members.
Finance: Monitors funds spent as a Club, and creates a budget each year for review and comment by the club's Board of Directors. Ultimately the approval of any budget is up to the Board of Directors.
Meeting Programs: This committee plans the programs that will be presented throughout the year at our Club's monthly member meetings. As mandated by LCI, a certain number of these programs must be Lion sponsored foundations.
Bylaws: This committee is responsible for keeping our Bylaws (Constitution, Bylaws, and Standing Rules) current and up-to-date with the changing times, and requirements of applicable law.
Public Relations / Technology: This committee works on our Club's website and maintains our Club'a Facebook page as well as our Club's contributions to the Carver County Lions Facebook page. In addition, this Committee monitors our Club's e-mail account. We also have a volunteer who is responsible for submitting photos and articles to the News & Times publication, as well as to the Lions 5M2 monthly newsletter.
Directory: This committee is in charge of keeping current the directory containing our members' contact information.
Sunshine: This committee is responsible for contacting our members when they are sick, having surgery, or in need of a little ‘sunshine’ in their lives.
Awards Committee: This committee meets when awards need to be handed out to Club members. These awards are given when we have donated funds to the Lions sponsored organizations.
Club Outing: This committee plans an annual outing for our Lions members to attend that is outside our usual meetings or events that we participate in during the year.
Kwik Trip Cards: Kwik Trip Cards are for sale by members of our Club. The Kwik Trip Cards have been another great fundraiser for our group and we're very thankful Kwik Trip has provided this opportunity for us to earn a percentage of gas and in-store sales made using the cards. We are adding separate grocery cards and car wash cards in 2023. Look for the car wash carda twice a year in March and September.
