The Mt. Vernon Lions Club served 500 Hot Dogs and Hamburgers to people of the MV Community to help out people with no power to allow them to have a hot meal. The club also served a Vegan option to the community as well.
 Our Club last night met via Zoom and approved two $500 Donations to
Southeast Linn Community Center and Mount Vernon Community School District Kids In Need. Our Club saw the need in our community more than ever during this time. If you can support these organizations individually please donate to them!  The Mt. Vernon Lions Club along with the Mt. Vernon Boys Basketball program joined forces in order to raise money and awareness on Childhood Cancer. The team wore special Beat Cancer shirts in honor of International Childhood Cancer Day witch was a day later on February 15. Together with the sales of shirts and a 50/50 pot that night. The Mt. Vernon Lions Club raised over $500 for Beat Cancer Today. Beat Cancer Today is an Eastern Iowa Non-Profit 501-C3. Beat Cancer Today’s mission is to create awareness of childhood cancers and to provide financial support for childhood cancer research, and for patient and family support programs. Formed by Iowa families whose children have been diagnosed with childhood cancer, Beat Cancer Today raises funds through t-shirt sales and special events and distributes those funds to Children’s Cancer Connection, Children’s Oncology Group, and University of Iowa Dance Marathon. The Boys won their game over CPU that night with a final score of 51-39. The Mt. Vernon Lions club is proud to continue its support of Childhood Cancer and has embraced the newest service initiative from Lions Clubs International.  Since January 1, 2019 the Mt. Vernon Lions Club has collected over 500 pairs glasses! The Mt. Vernon Lions Club has been participating in the Lions Recycle for Sight used eyeglasses collection program and would like to encourage community members to continue donating their used eyeglasses. The Collection box is located at Mt. Vernon Bank located at 206 1st St SW, Mount Vernon, Iowa 52314.
“We need everyone to donate their old glasses,” said Paul Fugate Lions Club Service Chair. “In most developing countries, eye care is either not affordable or inaccessible. An eye exam can cost as much as one month’s wages, and a single eye doctor may serve a community of hundreds of thousands of people. And for many, poor eyesight that is left uncorrected can lead to unemployment for adults and a child’s inability to attend school. By taking the time to give us your glasses, you will help improve the life of someone in need.” The donated eyeglasses will be shipped to the Midwest Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center in Rosholt, Wisconsin – home of the Wisconsin Lions Camp – where they will be sorted, cleaned, categorized by prescription and prepared for distribution by Lions and other groups to third world countries.  The Mt. Vernon Lions Club donated $1,260 to the Mt. Vernon Community School Districts Kids in Need.
Kids in Need is a fund that is maintained by donations to help children and families of Mount Vernon. They help families with food, lunch money, housing, clothing, gas, Christmas gifts and much much more! They also fund the Mustang Snack Pack. This is a program that gives in-need children a sack of non perishable items to take home over the weekend and on holiday breaks. The Lions Club always raises the money for Kids in need through their annual Christmas Party held in early December. The Lions club has been donating to Kids in Need for many years and will continue to donate to this programs for many years!  The Mt. Vernon Lions Club on November 7 and 8 screened 142 children through the Iowa Kidsight program.
Iowa KidSight is a joint project of the Lions Clubs of Iowa and the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital, dedicated to enhancing the early detection and treatment of vision impairments in young children (target population 6 months of age through kindergarten) in Iowa communities through screening and public education at no cost to the parents of children. The Kidisight program has been around for almost 20 years. Since 2010 Mt. Vernon has been screening children in both Mt. Vernon and Lisbon. Between the two communities over 800 children have been screened and 88 have been detected for having a vision problem. The first few years of a child’s life are critical in the development of good vision. These problems are not always evident. Each day that eye problems go undetected and untreated, a child’s vision may deteriorate to the point of irreversibility. The earlier these conditions are detected, the more easily and successfully they can be treated. With visual learning being so a major factor in a young child’s early development it is crucial that he or she have 20/20 vision! The Mt. Vernon Lions Club looks forward to continuing this project for many years!!!  The Mount Vernon Lions Club in honor of World Diabetes Day conduced Type 2 Diabetes Risk Awareness test on our club members in to inspire citizens of the Mt. Vernon Community to make sure they are aware of how much Diabetes is becoming a real epidemic. Diabetes can lead to serious diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, nerves and teeth. In most high-income countries, diabetes is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower limb amputation. It is expected to affect 629 million adults by 2045 according to the World Health Association.
Our Club recognizes how diabetes is becoming a real problem in the world. We are in the process of implement our club in the cause of diabetes and are looking forward to implementing a project to help those who have this horrible disease  The Mt. Vernon Lions Club would like to thank everyone who played bingo at Heritage Days this year. Our Club Raised over $1,400 and is one of our best years recently.
Proceeds from bingo go towards Lions Projects which include: Scholarships, Free Eye Screenings for Preschoolers through the Iowa Kidsight Program and other projects helping with the Environment, Childhood Cancer, Hunger and Diabetes. Thank you as well for the Mt. Vernon Baseball team for helping us put up and tear down our bingo tent this year. Thank you all for making our club a success!  The Mt. Vernon Lions Club hosted a Beat Childhood Cancer night for the Gabe Goslin Family on July 8th to help raise money and awareness for Childhood Cancer. Gabe Goslin is a 16-year old Freshman at Mount Vernon High-School. He is involved in baseball, football and holds a job outside of school. On February 4th he was diagnosed with Stage III Hodgkins Lymphoma-Nodular Sclerosis Type. This diagnosis was obviously unexpected and devastating to Gabe’s family and friends. Can you imagine at age 15 to be told you have cancer? As a parent hearing those words. This was devastating for Goslin family. Gabe has always been very active & full of life and a year-round athlete. Gabe's attitude towards cancer was much like he approaches all challenges, nothing sugar coated and said "let's get it done" to meet the goal. The goal this time being, BEAT CANCER. Chemo was brutal & Gabe was in the hospital most of the time from February until June. The great news was that chemo shrunk the cancer significantly & he was able to start radiation. Gabe just finished up radiation & his prognosis is good! He has gotten to play his favorite sport this summer BASEBALL! Jim Baty of Concrete Cares Presented a check for $3,500 and The Mt. Vernon Lions Club Presented a check for $1,000 for Gabe and his family. Over $700 was raised in a 50/50 raffle that the winner donated back by the winner to the Goslin Family. Some Stats on Childhood Cancer from beatcancertoday.com Every day in the United States, 43 children are diagnosed with cancer. Children’s cancer affects all ethnic, gender and socio-economic groups. The average age of children diagnosed is six. More than 40,000 children undergo treatment for cancer each year. 60% of children who survive cancer suffer late effects, such as infertility, heart failure and secondary cancers. There are approximately 375,000 adult survivors of children’s cancer in the United States. That equates to 1 in 530 adults ages 20-39. On average on 4% of all monies raised in the U.S. goes towards Childhood Cancer Research  Bring your Quarters as the Mt. Vernon Lions Club will once again have our famous Bingo Tent at Mt. Vernon Heritage Days July 12 and 13.
The Bingo Tent Hours will be: Friday 5pm-11pm Saturday 1pm-11pm Come and support your community by playing in The Lions Club Bingo Tent during Heritage Days! 25¢ per card or $1 for five. Proceeds will go towards Lions Projects which include: Scholarships, Free Eye Screenings for Preschoolers through the Iowa Kidsight Program and other projects helping with the Environment, Pediatric Cancer, Hunger and Diabetes. Come and have some fun as our Bingo Tent is the Best entertainment during Heritage Days! |
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