The new unit
better enables the patrolling surf life savers to assist more quickly, and has a
full range of first aid and resuscitation equipment, including Defribrillator
and Oxy-Viva equipment
Surf Club
President, Rod Ellis, thanked Lions for their special help towards the equipment
and for their support of the volunteer Surf Life Savers over many years.
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Lioness Club Helps Girl finds a
Wider World
The Lioness
Club of Sutherland Shire (201N5) gave the Wainwright family of Loftus an
early Christmas present that changed their lives.
Thanks to
the fund-raising efforts of the Club and a grant from the Australian Lions
Foundation, the $25,000 project allowed the family to convert their car to
accommodate their disabled daughter Julia.
Not only
does Julia, 8, have a profound disability, the family lives at the top of a
very steep driveway, making the wheelchair conversion even more important.
The conversion will be of great assistance for Julia attending school and
medical appointments and participating more easily in family outings.
Julia’s
mother Angela said the car conversion made the family’s life more normal.
“It means we
can do things that other families take for granted – we’ve taken Julia to
the park and the beach, and I recently took her shopping for the first time
in a long time” said Mrs. Wainwright. “It means Julia is getting out and
doing things we otherwise wouldn’t be able to do.”
Julia’s
father Craig wrote a touching letter to their local newspaper, the St.George
& Sutherland Shire Leader -
“My
wife and I were recently reminded how vital local community support can be.
Words will never do justice to the hard work of the Lioness Club of
Sutherland Shire and the Lions Foundation in their fundraising efforts for a
vehicle wheelchair conversion and home modification to cater for our young
daughter who has a severe physical and intellectual disability.
Our
experience of the incredible support from family, friends and work
colleagues as well as local, regional and even interstate business, all
harnessed through the commitment and energy of the remarkable ladies of the
Lioness Club, has left us feeling so very grateful to all.
The
importance of combined community support to help individuals can never be
understated. In turn, and of equal importance, is that individuals
continue to support their local community in all its forms. Thank you
Lionesses. You have touched our lives in a most profoundly caring way.”
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Special Gift for Hospital Unit's
10th Anniversary
Pictured at one of the new chairs are:-
ALF Chairman PDG Paul Logue,
Nurse Unit Manager Patrice Dobbs,
201N3 Zone 9 Chairperson Rosalea Sellers
and patient Ruth Lavis
The Maitland Hospital’s
Dialysis Unit recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a
$38,000 boost.
The generosity of seven Lions
Clubs from Zone 9 in District 201N3, matched by the Australian Lions
Foundation and the Lions NSW/ACT Health Care Foundation, has allowed
dialysis patients to now have access to seven new electric treatment chairs.
The Maitland Dialysis Unit
opened in December 1999 and initially operated three days a week. It now
operates 10 dialysis chairs with two treatments a day, six days per week,
providing treatment to 41 patients.
Nurse Unit manager Patrice
Dobbs said the specially designed chairs offered improved comfort and
independence for patients. “This is a very generous donation from Lions and
we really appreciate their support for the unit and our patients. It’s a
great birthday present. It has given us the opportunity to update the
remainder of our treatment chairs all at once”
Dialysis patient Ruth Lavis
said “the new chairs are excellent and the patients themselves can also
operate them to obtain the most comfortable positions”.
Zone 9 Chairperson Rosalea
Sellers said that “we are very pleased that we have been able to again
support the Maitland Hospital and have helped people in our local area who
really need our assistance”.
ALF Chairman PDG Paul Logue commented that this project was a great example
of Lions at 3 levels - Club, State and National – working together on a very
worthy community welfare project.
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Appreciation
Following the recent meeting of the Trustee's, a grant was
approved for the Lions Club of Melbourne Chinese to support their Nursing
Home Project. A function was held in Melbourne, attended by over 250 guests
including District Governor V1-4 Alan Crilly and Lions Lady Margaret as well as
the Lord Mayor of Melbourne John So, PCC Tony Benbow - the Victorian Trustee
also attended and took the opportunity to present the ALF Grant to the President
and Members of the Club. As this is a major project of the Lions Club of
Melbourne Chinese, we are sure that we will see more shortly.
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Healthy Support
Martin Kane with PDG John Knowles from Floreat Club
Quadriplegic
Martin Kane of Bassendean in WA has a newly renovated,
wheelchair friendly kitchen in his home, thanks to the
generosity of local Lions Clubs and the Australian Lions
Foundation.
he received
more than $21,000 from Lions members at a special morning
tea held recently at his home. The money will help pay
builders for the demolishing of the old kitchen and
establishing double doors and a new counter for Martin to
sit under.
Martin 42, was
fit and healthy until one night in November 2008 when he
woke feeling unwell.By the time an
ambulance arrived, he was unconscious. He had been struck
down by Devic's Syndrome - a rare condition which rendered
him unable to talk, walk or lift his head.
While he was
in hospital, Martin desperately wanted to move home before
Christmas 2009. In order to do so,he
needed a team of carers to provide him with personal care. Martin
received his Christmas wish and moved home in December with carers
at his side.
Shortly after him falling ill, a local paper, the Eastern
Reporter, wrote a story about Martin's plight.
After hearing of Martin's problems and reading the story in the Reporter, PDG John Knowles from the Floreat Lions Club became
determined to help Martin and sought help from other local Lions
Clubs.
PDG
John presented the money to Martin and his wife Carolyn at the
morning tea. "WE hope these funds, which were contributed by eight
Lions Clubs and the Australian Lions Foundation, will help to make
life a bit better for Martin" he said. The Kanes said they were very
grateful to many kind of people who had donated funds to modify the
home.
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Health Expo
The Lions Club of Aberfoyle & Districts, with funding
assistance from the Australian Lions Foundation, ran a successful
Health Expo on 27th March 2010.
Free diabetes and blood pressure screenings were
conducted at the local Shopping Centre from 10am to 4pm. 210 members of
the public were screened for high blood pressure and diabetes, with 60
being referred on to doctors for further investigation. President Lou
Sedivy said "that was an amazing 30% of the people tested walking around
unaware of serious health problems. We probably saved some lives by
simply making people aware of health issues. That's the power of Lions
and the difference we can really make".
In addition to the screening, a major Forum on men's
health issues was staged at the Community Centre from 12 noon until 4pm.
The Forum included guest speakers on heart disease, diabetes, prostate
cancer, colorectal cancer, mental health and exercise.
President Lou said that in summary, it was great
result - "we conducted a high profile health campaign out there in the
community where it really counts".
"As a Club we made a great impact and we can all feel
proud to call ourselves Lions"
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Communication Skills
The Stanthorpe Lions Q1 at a recent meeting, Geraldine Hollingsworth
from Granite Belt Support Services (GBSS) accepted a cheque for $3,000
towards computer equipment and software to help motivate children and
help them improve their communication skills. Among the equipment
purchased was an I-Pad, an extremely useful tool according to GBSS
therapy manager Geraldine Hollingsworth.
We find it's a very good tool to help them with their speech and
movement developments. Thanks, many thanks to the Lions Club
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Mobility
The Tallebudgera Lions Club only formed in May 2011, but it has
already raised thousands to help one local community group. Despite
being up and running for a short few months, its members raised $6,400
for a new utility vehicle for Riding For the Disabled at Tullebudgera.
President Stephen Marlor said the new vehicle would help people with a
disability who may need transporting over the nine hectares used by the
group. The four-wheel drive Kubota RTV 500 has been designed for wet and
rough terrain and came at a cost of $12,800. The club raised half the
money in six months through barbeques, garage sales and Lions Christmas
Cake sales and the Australian Lions Foundation contributed the remaing
$6,400 to buy the vehicle.
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Defibrillator
District Governor Lou Onley, PDG Geoff Angus and Cabinet
Secretary Don Guinea presenting the defibrillator to the school
staff
District 201V5 and Lions Club of South Vermont. This was
a community effort with the College recognising the need for this
special equipment and undertaking fundraising activities to assist in
meeting the cost of $2,655 to purchase the defibrillator. Their efforts
were supported by the Lions Organisation, with the Australian Lions
Foundation, providing funding together with financial support from the
District and Lions Club of South Vermont, has enabled this potentially
lifesaving equipment to be installed at the college.
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Mobile Equipment
 |
New Equipment: Clockwise from left to right, Geoffrey Cutter, Centre Manager
Wendy Burgener, nurse Kevin Rhodes, manager of nurses Judith
Bloomfield, Brown Hill and District Lions Club secretary Bryan
Craven, President Ed Bawden and patient Alice Pip Homer |
Lions Give nursing home a boost. Ballarats Geoffrey Cutter Centre has more than $3,000 worth of new
mobility equipment, thanks to a generous community donation. The Brown
Hill and District Lions Club yesterday presented the facility with four
bariatric wheelchairs and two shower stools. The heavy duty wheelchairs
are specially designed to support larger weights, with wider seats and
reinforced frames. Nurse unit manager said the donation would help the
facility cater to the region's ageing population. Brown Hill and
District Lions Club secretary Bryan Craven said the club had split the
cost of the donation with the Australian Lions Foundation.
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Oxygen Concentrator
The members of the Lions Club of Dapto N2, recently applied for a
grant to purchase a portable Oxygen Concentrator for 3 year old Ben
Guidance. This equipment has allowed Ben to attend some pre school and
be out and about for longer periods away from dedicated power sources
due to the battery facility of the Oxygen Concentrator
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