Glasses. That is what most people think of when they hear ‘Lions Club’. Glasses. Donate your used glasses in a container at Walmart. Get help with glasses when you cannot afford them. Lions Club.
Unknown to many, the Lions Club is an international volunteer service club with over 1.4 million caring men, women and youth members in 200-plus countries benefiting an average of 96 million people a year.
LIONS: Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nation’s Safety
Yes, the Lions do assist with vision, but this international organization also provides help with hearing issues, hunger, diabetes awareness, environmental issues, childhood cancer, disaster relief, youth outreach, international relations and neglected tropical diseases (NTD).
Founded in Chicago in 1917, the Lions motto 107 years later is still “We serve.” Communities are strengthened by improving the health and well-being of all residents. And one of the goals of Lions Club International is to be the global leader in local community and humanitarian services.
Tennessee alone is home to more than 200 Lions Clubs and over 4,000 members. In 2009, a group of Lions Club members from around the area walked around Union County talking to various business members about the benefits of the club.
Jim McFarland, past district governor of the Lions Club, project manager of the Smoky Mountains Lions Charity Mobile Vision Lab and present treasurer of the West Knoxville club, was one of these folks.
Donna Jones (former Union County Assessor of Property), Brenda Sweet (VP of Commercial Bank), Eugene Brantley and Billy Sexton, among others, decided that this kind of club would be a good fit for the county. The club started with around 28 residents, rapidly dropped to 12 and then just sort of fizzled out. Since the charter was not dissolved, Union County Historian Bonnie Peters instigated a rebirth in 2013.
Bonnie inspired retired Union/Knox County guidance counselor Darrell Malone to help her out. He agreed to be treasurer if she would be president. Dr. Ronnie Mincey had just received his doctorate in education when Bonnie convinced him to jump on the bandwagon as well. And the Union County Lions Club was reborn!
The Union County Lions Club is part of the 12-N District which serves 23 counties in northeastern TN. These individual clubs often work together to support each other and meet the needs of the community.
Today, Mincey, Union County Schools Federal Programs Administrator, functions as the treasurer and Pastor Kathy Chesney of Miller’s Chapel United Methodist Church as the president of today’s Union County Lion’s Club.
Jim McFarland has remained dedicated as an advisor and rarely misses a monthly meeting. Until Covid interfered with the process, the Lions Club organized volunteers to help with and perform free annual preschool and kindergarten eye exams. They hope to restart that program in the 2023-2024 academic year.
The primary goal of this local club is to help with the vision needs of lower income folks in the county who have no insurance. Based on income, the Union County Lions Club can provide a quality eye exam and glasses either free or with a low copayment. Folks who need financial assistance with cataracts may also qualify for cataract surgery. A patient who qualifies for cataract surgery may also qualify for free or reduced medical care. And there is some assistance available for those who have impaired hearing.
Mark Allen Martin graduated from UT and taught music in the Union County Schools for 27 years. He passed away in 2015, but the Union County Lions Club remembers him every year with a several small Mark Martin Scholarships for college bound Union County High School graduating seniors.
These scholarships, eye care and hearing assistance are funded through various activities. You may have run into some of the local volunteer Lions selling concessions at the Union County Opry or at home games. Delicious fresh pecans have been for sale every fall at both the Commercial and First Century Banks in Maynardville.
What more could our local Lions do?
When asked what he thought the Union County Lions Club would do in the future, Jim McFarland responded that each club is different. “Your club, your way” was his immediate response.
Each individual Lions Club needs to decide how involved in their community they want to be. What identified needs are they willing and able to meet? And where could our Lions Club lead?
Back in 2017, the Vision Van came to the high school and provided exams for people of all ages. Now, residents can get these exams, but need an appointment to go to Fountain City to do so. Club members would like to bring the Vision Van back to Union County every other year.
Remote Area Medical (RAM) will come into communities if invited and supported by the community. There is a huge need here for basic medical and dental care for those whose jobs may not include insurance and others who fall through the cracks.
If the Union County community chooses to support this effort, RAM could be invited to hold a clinic here. The Lions Club would be one of the supportive community organizations.
LEO Clubs (Leadership, Experience, Opportunity) are school-based organizations aimed at encouraging community service at a young age. They form a partnership of mutual respect with the Lions. Would that be a fit here?
Other ideas include a Welcome Wagon to each new resident with information about the county businesses, schools, neighborhoods, events, available services, and Union County history; enlarging the high school scholarship program; a food kitchen; an annual dentistry clinic in Union County; food baskets; tuition assistance for future optometrists; a LEO club.
Many area ophthalmologists, optometrists and dentists already volunteer their time with RAM and Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries (KARM). (Both Dr. John Osborn and Dr. Andrew Osborn of Osborn Family Dentistry in Maynardville have been extremely generous with their knowledge, skills, and time.) More professional volunteers would expand what the current volunteers are presently able to do.
And what does Union County Lions Club need? You. In whatever capacity you are able and comfortable.
People who have a desire to give back. Folks who can volunteer their time at clinics, games, concerts. Promoters. Idea people. Recruiters. People to help make the Lions Club visible. Community organizers. Someone to design and maintain a Facebook page with updated information. With you, the Lions Club could do so much more.
Donated eyeglasses may be dropped off at the Lions Club box in the Maynardville Food City. The Union County Lions Club meets the fourth Monday of every month from noon to 1 p.m. in the meeting room at Hardee’s.
Application for eyecare or hearing exams may be requested from Dr. Ronnie Mincey 865-278-6430.