October 14, 2014
by Danita Potter, Publicity Officer
Kingaroy Lions Club members have been busy over the past month working on several different projects.
Some members have been assisting Meals on Wheels to help feed some of those involved in last month’s Orienteering Competition. Others have been involved in general fund-raising efforts to assist worthy causes in the local community.
And others have been rounding up unused spectacles and sunglasses for the Lions’ Recycle 4 Sight Australia program.
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Recycle 4 Sight is part of the Lions Clubs’ international Worldwide Eyeglass Recycling Program.
It is headquartered in Queensland and operates throughout Australia and overseas, collecting thousands of pairs of used spectacles, sunglasses, new frames and other equipment.
The program then regrades and distributes the used spectacles to humanitarian organisations in many other parts of the world for distribution to poor people in need, at no expense or obligation to the recipient.
Over the 15 years the Australian program has existed, Recycle 4 Sight has delivered 2.5 million pairs of spectacles and sunglasses to countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Asia (including China), the Pacific Rim and Oceania.
These are spectacles that otherwise would have simply been thrown away.
If you’d like to help Recycle 4 Sight yourself, you can drop off any unused spectacles and sunglasses to Pharmacy Essentials; Blooms the Chemist; Lee See Optometrist; Fitzpatrick Optometrist; or the Kingaroy State High School for the Kingaroy Lions Club to collect.
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Recently the Kingaroy Lions club awarded Greg and Janine Heyer the Professor Ian Frazer Humanitarian Award.
This award was to thank them for the hard work and effort they put into organising this year’s Lions Club Trail Bike ride, which was held in May.
Greg and Janine said the award was for everyone who helped, especially the sweeper riders.
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Kingaroy Lions visited Kingaroy SES HQ recently.
Kingaroy Lions Club president Darcy McDonald presented the SES with a state-of-the-art battery-powered Stihl chainsaw, together with rapid charger and batteries to assist with SES storm damage response capability.
Kingaroy SES Group Leader Peter Verbakel said the chainsaw was powerful, quiet, lightweight and instantly ready for use, making responses to trees down much more efficient and prompt.
Also donated to SES by Darrell Hansen, from the Stihl Shop in Kingaroy, was a purpose-designed carry case for the unit.
“Kingaroy SES wishes to gratefully acknowledge the kind and generous donations from the Kingaroy Lions and the Stihl Shop Kingaroy,” Peter said.
“It is organisations and businesses like these that give the SES volunteers their feeling of belonging and appreciation.”
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The Kingaroy Lions Club meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at the Commercial Hotel at the corner of Glendon and Haly Streets in Kingaroy.
Meetings get underway at 6:30pm, and potential new members are always welcome.
