World’s largest service club organization gets larger
Dakota County Technical College is now the first two-year college to establish a Campus Lions Club in Lions District 5M-6. The new DCTC Campus Lions Club held a Charter Night Celebration Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, on the DCTC main campus in Rosemount, Minn. Lion dignitaries in attendance included Debra Wasserman, former director of the International Association of Lions Clubs, and Mike Molenda, governor of District 5M-6.
The celebration included an induction of new members and installation of new officers as well as the presentation and acceptance of the club’s charter. DCTC President Ronald E. Thomas, Ph.D., gave the welcoming address with District Governor Molenda introducing the new club after the Pledge of Allegiance.
“The DCTC Campus Lions Club has made a great start with a great deal going for it,” Molenda said later, “including interested and caring students, a very supportive administration and faculty, and a sincere desire to serve the school, the local community and others in need by giving assistance where needed. The enthusiasm and creativity displayed by the DCTC Lions Club is something all Lions Clubs should seek to emulate.”
The new membership is excited about the club’s potential to help fulfill the mission of the largest service club organization in the world. That mission centers on empowering volunteers to serve on a number of fronts, including meeting humanitarian needs and promoting international understanding.
“The DCTC Campus Lions Club offers our members a perfect way to learn more about our community. We have the resources to not only clarify what needs doing, but also to get things done.”
Lions Clubs International has more than 1.35 million members in 45,000 clubs across 206 countries and geographic areas. The Lions date back to 1917 and are renowned for combating blindness, but members also care for the environment, feed hungry populations, provide emergency aid following natural disasters, and help seniors and the disabled.
The DCTC Campus Lions Club is poised to uphold the organization’s famous motto: “We Serve.” DCTC Vice President Sharon LaComb is one of the club’s new members. She envisions the membership bringing the campus community together at a time when challenges need to be turned into opportunities.
“The DCTC Campus Lions Club offers our members a perfect way to learn more about our community,” she said. “We have the resources to not only clarify what needs doing, but also to get things done. Our new Lions Club gives us the means to create real change.”
Ben Bundschu, president of the DCTC Campus Lions Club, reported that his fellow officers and club members will be working hard to earn their new club the visibility needed for effective fundraising. Bundschu noted that new fundraising ideas are already in the works, including one aimed at lowering the cost of books for students.
“At DCTC, we can use our unique capabilities as a college club to better serve students on campus as well as residents in our surrounding communities,” he said. “The Lions are about service and we believe in that mission.”
“Their energy is contagious. This new and young club is going to bring a wonderful new dimension to Lions Clubs in 5M-6.”
DCTC Campus Lions Club officers and members expressed their appreciation for the help given by the Farmington Lions Club and Rosemount Lions Club. They thanked Lance Crombie, a member of the Farmington club, and Sue Mullen, secretary and treasurer of the Rosemount club, for sponsoring the new DCTC club.
“We at Farmington Lions were honored to help DCTC start the first two-year college Campus Lions Club in our district,” Crombie said. “The students and staff did a fantastic job in helping us get the club up and running. The entire community should be so proud of Dakota County Technical College. The Lions welcome them into our community. They are special.”
Sue Mullen was greatly impressed with the DCTC students who worked on launching the club. “Their energy is contagious,” she said. “This new and young club is going to bring a wonderful new dimension to Lions Clubs in 5M-6.”
Mullen reported that Charter Night was well-planned and went off with out a hitch, providing everyone present with the chance to forge new friendships and discuss new ideas for projects. “All of us from the Rosemount Lions are willing and able to help this wonderful new club in any way possible,” she said.
Paula Mehrhoff, secretary of the DCTC Campus Lions Club, was impressed by the invocation given by Brett Kolles, DCTC English instructor and Lions Club advisor. Mehrhoff felt the poem summed up the ideals and aspirations of the new club:
We say thanks for all that we have,
May our tasks never be few,
As we gather as Lions to serve.
As to serve, is what we do.
For more information about the DCTC Campus Lions Club, please contact:
- Brett Kolles | Lions Club Advisor
DCTC Campus Lions Club Charter Night Gallery
(photos courtesy of Lion Ed Nelson and Lion Awbre Henry)
wow i was looking for my local lions club site and look what came up! good to know you are doing great work around the world.