Faced with dwindling membership numbers, the Thorold Lions Club is putting out an urgent plea for new volunteers.
“New people bring new ideas, new ways to help, and that’s what we want,” says the club’s secretary Susan Beamer, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “A lot of times someone will come out and they will have a great idea and it’s probably better than any that we can think of. We really need some new help.”
The goal of the Thorold Lions Club, which has been around for over ten years, is to support the local community through volunteer work and fundraising.
“We do some fundraising to be able to donate to different causes,” says Beamer. “We do a bursary at Thorold High for a student who has done over and above their service hours. For our legacy project we did three bike repair stations, one at Lock 7, one in Port Robinson and one in Allanburg. We’ve actually adopted Collier Road from Sullivan right down to Beaverdams and we do a road cleanup twice a year.”
COVID-19 has made it harder for the club to raise funds.
“It’s been difficult,” Beamer says. “Without raising funds you can’t make donations. Everything falls down. It’s been tough, it has, but we just kept going as best we can.”
The club is currently down to eight members.
“When we first started we had 23,” says Beamer. “People come and go. We’re actually going to be down two members because one of our girls is moving to New Brunswick. People have commitments but we take whatever time they can give us. We don’t expect them to come out to every meeting or do every service project.”
Volunteering is really rewarding, according to Beamer.
“It just makes you feel good, being able to do something for somebody else not looking for any return,” she says. “It’s a great feeling, it really is. It’s not an obligation, it’s just something you want to do. It also brings you a lot of friendship. We’re not a very big club but we have a lot of fun. That’s why you keep going.”
To join the Thorold Lions Club, you can reach out through email or through their Facebook page. Every Friday, the club hosts an elimination draw in which people can win gift cards for Big Red Markets.
