Yesterday, I became a Lion, aka member of the Lions Club, specifically the Atlanta Lions Club.

Lets backtrack a bit here. Towards the beginning of the year, I set my New Years resolutions, just like everyone else. One of my resolutions was to try to help out in the community. I wanted to join an organization that was interested in giving a helping hand. So I decided to look into the big 3 organizations everyone has heard of: Lions Club, Kiwanis, and Rotary Club. I had done Key Club in high school, and wanted something different, so Kiwanis was out (nothing wrong with Kiwanis of course, but I wanted to put myself more out there).

So I googled ‘Atlanta Lions Club’ and up came the Atlanta Lions Club. Well, that was easy.

I emailed Scott Rogers, the club president, and he invited me to their next meeting. A few days later, I walked into one of the rooms at the Capital City Club and met lots of awesome folks. Scott and I talked a few days later, trying to figure out how I wanted to be involved.

Vision is a huge focus for Lions Clubs (no pun intended). This goes back to Hellen Keller challenging Lions Clubs to be “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.” This is a topic I can empathize with. Since I wear contacts most of the time, not many folks see me with my honkin’ thick glasses at night or on the weekends. Without contacts or glasses, I can’t tell how many fingers you are holding up if they were a foot from my face.

My biggest fear is not being able to see.

So I want to get involved in anything sight-related. One awesome cause is the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation. The Lighthouse provides eye exams and glasses to folks who can’t afford them. You can donate old glasses (usable or broken) to the Lighthouse.

One of the biggest fundraising events for the Lighthouse is the Night of Spectacles. While the event has a silent auction for raising money, the fun part is a design competition of making dresses that incorporate donated broken glasses. This year, the Night of Spectacles is being held April 22nd, at the Mason Murer Gallery.

The Lighthouse is raising money to open a new 4,450 square feet facility in Decatur. With so many people needing their services, this will allow more people to volunteer, and most importantly, more people to be helped.

And oh yeah, overhead at the Lighthouse is 6%, meaning for every dollar you donate, 94 cents goes directly to their programs!

I’m hoping to help out at the screenings that the Lighthouse holds all over the state.

Members of the Atlanta Lions Club get together once a month and volunteer at The Pantry.  The Pantry provides food to anyone in need. It isn’t limited to homeless individuals. Imagine anyone who has lost their job and can’t make ends meet. The wife and I trekked down there earlier this month to help out. Unfortunately, it was closed because of the insane snowstorm that hit the southeast. But we plan on making it out there once a month to help out.

The Atlanta Lions Club will also be helping out at the American Diabetes Association EXPO/Atlanta on March 27th with free screenings.

Either way, I’m happy to be part of such a great organization. I’m happy that I’ll have the chance to help.

I’m proud to be a Lion.