"WE SERVE"

About

The Aberdeen Lions Club, founded on June 11, 1940, with 23 charter members, has a long history of community service. Sponsored by the Olympia Lions, the club's motto is "WE SERVE".

Over the years, the club has grown to an average membership of 65 to 70 people and has sponsored at least five new Lions clubs in Grays Harbor County.

Meetings are held on Mondays 12:00PM (2nd Monday 6:00 pm)
at The Log Pavilion - at Morrison Riverfront Park, Aberdeen, Washington

Community Projects & Fundraisers

The Aberdeen Lions Club has always been active in the community, undertaking numerous projects and fundraisers. Early projects included constructing a dock and placing sand on the beach at Lake Aberdeen, which became the site of the annual Lions Watercade. In the 1950s, the club built Aberdeen's first Little League Park and later helped move it to Pioneer Field. The club also contributed to major projects like rebuilding the interior of the Driftwood Theatre in the early 1980s and constructing planters and benches along the River Walk at Morrison Park.

The club's fundraising efforts have evolved over time. The paper recycling project, which began as a house-to-house collection of slick magazine paper, is still a principal fundraiser today. The club ships approximately 30 tons of paper for recycling twice a year, including newsprint, books, and magazines.

Other historical fundraisers include a Father's Day Pancake Breakfast, door-to-door light bulb sales, Reno Nights, circuses, and auctions. The annual "Toast the Harbor Wine Festival," which began in 2005, is now one of the club's major fundraisers.

Vision & Hearing Programs

Inspired by Helen Keller's 1925 address to Lions Clubs International, the Aberdeen Lions Club has a strong focus on sight and hearing conservation.

MD 19 G3 Vision Screening Foundation

The club is a key participant in this foundation, which provides vision screening for elementary school students in Coastal Washington. Using special cameras, the program screens for six different eye conditions and has screened over 25,000 individuals in six years. The foundation operates with support from a grant from the Northwest Lions Foundation and funding from the Alex and Suzanne Rosencrantz Foundation, administered by the Aberdeen Rotary Club.

White Cane Days

The club participates in this annual fundraiser, which takes place on the first Friday and Saturday of May. All funds collected go to the Northwest Lions Foundation to support its various activities, including a health screening unit, the hearing program, and patient care grants for sight-related medical procedures.

Glasses and Hearing Aids Programs

The club provides glasses and hearing aids to low-income individuals. The glasses program is funded entirely by the Aberdeen Lions Club and administered through the Salvation Army, with services provided by two club members who are optometrists. The hearing program is a cooperative effort with the Northwest Lions Foundation, where the Foundation and the local club share the cost after a $50 copay from the applicant.

Other Service Activites

The Aberdeen Lions Club is involved in various other service activities that change depending on community needs.

Bicycles from Heaven Program

This ongoing program, taken over from the Aberdeen Kiwanis Club, provides refurbished bicycles to low-income individuals. Used and discarded bikes are collected and sent to the Stafford Creek Correctional facility, where residents repair and refurbish them. The club pays for the parts, and over 3,500 bikes have been distributed.

Habitat for Humanity

The Aberdeen Lions have been involved in the construction of several Habitat for Humanity houses. Two of the houses were funded in part by the club and the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF).

The club has participated in the Relay for Life event to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, with a team of members walking in turns for 24 hours.

Relay for Life