04th
February 2012
Lions
Club of Gros Islet
The
Lions Club of Gros Islet celebrated its 20th
Anniversary, having been chartered on 28th January
1992. The Club was sponsored by the Lions Club
of Castries and early guidance was provided
by ‘Guiding Lion’ the late Lion
Roger Eudoxie, Melvin Jones Fellow and Past
District Governor,
The charter president was Lion Lokesh Singh
MJF, who still takes an interest in the club.
Two other charter members are still active in
the club they are Lions Wayne Monrose MJF and
Gregory Monplaisir MJF.
The Lions Club of Gros Islet has engaged in
a number of major projects in its host community
of Gros Islet and the surrounding communities
of Monchy and Grand Riviere as well as several
projects at the family and individual level.
Central to the club’s activities has been
its willingness to partner with a variety of
entities, and other Lions Clubs, to bring assistance
to those in need or simply to bring some joy
to the children and elderly in the community.
The club has done its share of distributing
food hampers to the needy in the community,
providing scholarships for promising but needy
children, completely rebuilding houses for fire
victims on two occasions as well as annual Christmas
parties for the elderly and for the children.
The Club has also been involved in mobilizing
resources to provide ongoing assistance to needy
persons in Gros Islet through the construction
in 2000, of a fully furnished ‘Soup Kitchen’
on the grounds of the old convent. This facility
is maintained by the Club and managed by the
community. The members of the Club are responsible
for feeding on the first Sunday of each month.
The Club has always leaned towards involvement
in health related activities perhaps because
it has always had nurses in its membership,
as many as three at one stage. One activity
of which the Club remains very proud was its
conceptualization and sponsorship of a Health
Fair held for the first time in 1995 at the
Castries Comprehensive School and for the next
five or six years at the Derek Walcott Square
in Castries. On one occasion the Health Fair
was held on the grounds of Tapion Hospital.
The Club is grateful for the support of all
the health related organisations which not only
participated in these early Health Fairs but
went on to institutionalise the concept.
Another major activity in which the Club was
involved for ten years along with the other
Lions Clubs in Saint Lucia was a partnership
with a team of optometrists from Michigan, Volunteer
Optometrists in the Service of Humanity (VOSH)
led by Dr. David and Barbara Oosting. This team
tested the eyes and provided spectacles to more
than one thousand persons in the communities
of Gros Islet, Monchy, Grand Riviere and Babonneau.
Lions Clubs have always been committed to assisting
with eye care and seeking to prevent blindness.
From this perspective, no activity in the club
has been more rewarding than its work with the
Saint Lucia Blind Welfare Association, and particularly
the Kids-in-Sight project. This project which
is now in its tenth year provides surgical and
other solutions for children with significant
eye problems allowing them to lead normal or
near normal lives. The club’s input is
at two levels; assisting with transportation
and raising funds to help to cover the local
costs of the team of up to nine persons which
included four paediatric eye surgeons this year.
The principal source of the club’s funds
is its Annual Charity Golf Tournament which
is usually held on the Saturday after Independence.
In 2012 it will be held on Saturday 25th February
and most of the funds raised will be donated
to the Kids-in-Sight project.
The Lions Club of Gros Islet has had its challenges,
and the membership which exceeded thirty in
the early days, fell at one stage to less than
twelve but is now again well above twenty with
several prospects waiting in the wings.
One project which has kept the club in the eye
of the public is the erection of road signs.
One of our activities to commemorate our twentieth
Anniversary is the replacement of the worn and
damaged signs on the highway and in the various
communities.
Message from Lion Eldridge
Stephens
(Past Council Chairman and Past District Governor)
Two decades ago, the members of the Lions Club
of Gros Islet answered the call to serve. That
“WE SERVE” imperative, imposes on
men and women in the organisation, the nurturing
spirit of love, of caring and of sharing. It
demands of them immense sacrifices, goodwill
and empathy, in the quest to relieve those in
distress circumstances. It obligates all who
belong, to give freely of their time, labour
and means.
It is your love for mankind and your commitment
to duty in the service of men that have sustained
your club throughout the years. Despite the
many challenges faced, you have remained firm
in the belief, ethics and abiding principles
of this, the largest service clubs organisation
in the world. You have distinguished yourselves
in the service of the less-fortunate among us,
by the countless charitable projects you have
undertaken.
I therefore remain extremely proud of your accomplishments
over the years and it is with the greatest of
pleasure, that I offer you my heartfelt and
sincere congratulations on the attainment of
this significant milestone in lionism.
Eldridge
Stephens MJF, PCC
Greetings
from Lion Lyndell Gustave
Zone Chairperson 3B
I am pleased to extend hearty congratulations
to the Lions Club of Gros Islet as it reaches
20 years of service through Lionism. My warmest
personal regards to each of you during your
anniversary year for not only growing to be
20 years of age, but for 20 years of splendid
Lions activity. To have served mankind so well
is noble, to have enjoyed doing it is to have
ensured that the effort can be sustained and
the future secured.
With more than 1.35 million Lions in over 200
countries and geographic area around the world,
Lions continue to play an integral role in developing
meaningful programmes to improve the human conditions
world-wide. We are a part of a global network
doing whatever is necessary to help our local
communities and the Gros Islet Lions are no
exception.
Each of you can take pride in your club’s
fine record of achievements during these past
20 years of service. As you plan for your club’s
future, remember that whenever a Lions Club
gets together, problems get smaller, and communities
get better and when it comes to meeting challenges,
our response is simple “WE SERVE”.
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