Everglades Lions Club and Lions Foundation of Everglades

The Everglades Lions Club has been serving the community since 1952. When the Club received a generous bequest from the estate of a former Lions Club member, the Lions Foundation of Everglades, Inc. was established in 2009. The Foundation has 501(c(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service. 

The Club and Foundation have been very successful in fundraising since the fiscal year began on July 1, 2024. In addition to the Chuckwagon sales of burgers, hot dogs, and more at the Everglades Seafood Festival, we also had a community chicken dinner in McLeod Park and several dinner events at Everglades Isle. With or without the Chuckwagon, the Lions also participated in the city’s Independence Day event, the Swamp Heritage Festival in the Big Cypress, and the Easter Egg Hunt. Thanks to the Robbie Mayberry family for allowing us to use their wonderful property in the Big Cypress for a very successful Turkey Shoot, as described in the previous issue of the Mullet Rapper. 

So now we are happy to tell you how we have spent funds recently. In response to last summer’s three hurricanes that struck Florida, we donated $5,000 to Lions Disaster Relief. We also donated $1,500 to the International Convention to be held this summer in Orlando, $1,000 to the Lions Eye Clinic in Bonita Springs, $500 to the Florida Diabetic Retinopathy Foundation, $500 to the Florida Lions Hearing Foundation, and $500 to the Florida Lions Foundation for the Blind. 

To support those in need of substance abuse rehabilitation, we gave $2,000 to Holly’s Hope and $2,000 to EC Fishers of Men. Many of our club members assist in the weekly food pantry distribution, so we donated $2,500 to the Everglades Community Food Pantry. To help our area youth, we gave $500 to the book fair at the Everglades City School and $500 to the Chokoloskee Family Church for the youth group. As a thank-you for allowing us to meet in the Jinkins Fellowship Hall, we gave $300 to the Ladies Auxiliary of the Everglades Community Church. 

We were one of the many Sponsors of the Hook ‘em In the Glades fishing tournament, and the Fiscal Agent for the event, and happily report that this year’s event resulted in a $20,201.81 donation to the Everglades City School sports programs. And we also spent funds to furnish eye exams and glasses to needy individuals in our community. After all, Helen Keller asked the Lions to be Knights for the Blind, and vision remains one of the main focuses of Lionism.  

Not Above You, Not Beneath You, But With You, We Serve!