Photo Karen Graham.
Pictured are MP Jamie Schmale, Nancy from Home Hardware, Lions Bill Hughes, Steve Paul and Al Lee.
Last month the local Lions’ Club held their ninth annual Walk for Dog Guides. The lovely weather brought out the participants, with eight registered walkers accompanied by twenty supporters, including a young baby. Twenty six local businesses also supported the cause, providing items for the gift table and loot bags. Dr. Kathryn Grayston and staff of Millbrook Valley Animal Hospital and the Cavan Monaghan Fire Department were on hand to offer assistance to human and canine participants, with Kathryn providing on call vet support in the event of puppy emergencies as well as helping with the activities and raising funds for the cause at her clinic. Cavan Monaghan Fire Department has been a constant at the Millbrook dog walk events from their beginning, offering emergency response as well as many handouts. At the final tally, the event raised $2,117.00 during the event with another 38 online donations bringing the total raised to $5,072.00 which was directed to the Lions Foundation of Canada. This is in addition to the more than $1000 raised in October at their Delta Bingo evening, which was send at the time in order to attract a matching donation for autistic dogs. The total donations earned from the annual Walk for Dog Guides is now $38,771.00.
This month the club also celebrated their club’s success in raising funds for the local hospital. Aimed at preventing unnecessary blindness, “Lions for Sight” is a regional Lions/Lionesses campaign to fund vital cataract surgical equipment our local hospital. The Millbrook Club was one of twenty six Lions Clubs from districts from the area that contributed to the campaign, combining their fundraising efforts from community based projects with a grant of $88,149.68 from Lions Clubs International Foundation, and a $15,000 donation from the physicians who make up the PRHC Ophthalmology Group. The Millbrook Club contributed $10,000 to this campaign, helping the combined effort to reach $202,669.68 in donations for for cataract surgical equipment at Peterborough Regional Heath Centre (PRHC). This has allowed the PRHC Foundation to fund a new cataract surgical unit and camera for the cataract surgical program and according to the Foundations’ president, the equipment is already changing the lives of patients across the region.
Fowlers Corners & District Lions Club Past President Carl Young, PID, says the project was conceived as a Lions International Centennial Community Legacy Project, celebrating a century of service for Lions around the world by making a lasting gift that will benefit the region for years to come. Serving the blind and visually impaired has been a Lion tradition for more than 100 years. Young says the local clubs are pleased to work together to support technology that can help eliminate unnecessary blindness, changing lives for our loved ones, friends and neighbours whose vision is clouded by cataracts. Congratulations and thank you for this wonderful contribution to the community. KG
