Lions Club does a lot for Bloomfield, county

If something good is happening in the Bloomfield community, there's a good chance the Lions Club is involved.

The organization has been helping Bloomfield and the Greene County community since 1950.

Now, they're hoping to get more people involved.

The Lions Club will host an informational meeting April 10 at the Odd Fellows Lodge, approximately three miles north of Bloomfield on State Road 157. A social time will be at 6:30 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m., and a short presentation on Lions Club International and Bloomfield Lions projects will follow.

"We're trying to put together an orientation night where people can come in and learn a little bit about what we do," Jeff Schafer, president of the Bloomfield Lions Club, said.

The Lions Club is a member of District 25E-1, which includes an area from Brown County to Vigo County, and south to Daviess County.

The local club has "29 members. We're usually between 29 and 31 members," Schafer noted.

The Lions Club's big project every year is to provide free eye screening to a portion of the students at Bloomfield School. Schafer noted that it's a state mandate that students in certain grades be tested each year.

"What would take (someone) all year to do, we can knock it out in four hours," Schafer said. "We can run 160-200 students through."

Brian Steward, an optometrist from Lyons, helps with the project.

"We bring the equipment from the district," Schafer said. "Usually we do it in the fall."

Earlier this year, some Bloomfield club members helped with the screening in Sullivan.

The first Lions Club was started in the early 1900s.

"Lions are an international network of 1.3 million men and women in 202 countries and geographic areas who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world," according to the Lions Club International Web site.

"Known for working to end preventable blindness, Lions participate in a vast variety of projects important to their communities. These projects range from cleaning up local parks to providing supplies to victims of natural disasters.

"Beginning in 1917, the association of Lions clubs has provided millions of people with the opportunity to give something back to their communities. View LQ (Lions Quarterly Video Magazine) on the Lions News Network to see how Lions continue to make a difference everyday and everywhere."

The Bloomfield Lions Club is involved in the community in many ways:

* It helped sponsor the juvenile diabetes program last year.

* It helps sponsor the Greene County Relay for Life.

* "We help keep clean the section of road between the highway in Bloomfield and the covered bridge in conjunction with the Boy Scouts," Schafer said.

* The Lions Club sponsors Bloomfield Boy Scout 464. "We have been their sponsor since Day 1 in the 1950s," Schafer noted.

* Club members, with the help of the Boy Scouts, help maintain VanSlyke Cemetery. The cemetery is named for one of the founders of Bloomfield.

* The club collects and donates between 700-800 eyeglasses each year to a recycle program.

* "We're also an advocate for cancer relief," Schafer said. "That's one of the reasons we're involved with the Relay for Life."

* The club awards three $500 scholarships each year to Bloomfield High School seniors.

* "We provide food and refreshments at the Fourth of July celebration," Schafer said.

* Members also donate to the Bloomfield speech and debate team.

The club conducts fundraisers throughout the year.

"We have a food booth at the Apple Festival each year, and that's our biggest fundraiser," Schafer explained.

The club also sells fruit in November and December each year, and members sell roses in October.

"Overall I would say probably 75 percent of our budget stays in the community," Schafer emphasized. "We spend it somewhere in the community on various projects."

Food will be served at the April 10 event, and Schafer requests that you RSVP so the club will know how much food to prepare.

If you plan to attend, call Audrey Craig, membership chair, at 825-3408.

Chris is the general manager/editor of the Greene County Daily World and can be reached by telephone at 847-4487 or 1-800-947-4487 or by e-mail at cpruett79@hotmail.com