The international motto of the Lions Club is “We Serve,” and they put that into action by serving the Globe-Miami community on Nov. 1 at the Cobre Valley Youth Club.
Lions Club members and community volunteers loaded the vehicles of 154 families with food boxes, cooking oil, water, and blankets, each box containing $100 worth of groceries. A total of 553 people were served.
“We want to help anybody who has food issues right now,” said Globe Lions Club President Martin Bentson.
A week earlier, Lions Club members from Miami, Globe, Safford, Mesa Fountain of the Sun, and South Tucson, along with community volunteers, came together to break down pallets of non-perishable food and goods. They were able to pack 150 boxes.
The donated boxes were made possible because of a $15,000 grant from the Lions Club International Foundation, along with donations from other Lions Clubs.
Those overseeing the distribution of food boxes on Saturday included Bentson, Miami Lions Club President Alexis Rivera, Miami Lion Fernando Shipley, and First Vice District Governor Edmund Lopez from Safford Lions Club MD 21 South.
All boxes were distributed, and Bentson said they had to turn about five cars away once they had run out of supplies.
Lopez stated that the Lions step in to serve whenever there’s a disaster happening.
With the flooding happening in the Globe-Miami community, and people being out of jobs because of it, “The district governor had me write a grant for $15,000 for food,” he said.
Once the grant was awarded, they purchased 10 pallets of food from Fry’s that included rice, canned fruits and vegetables, beans, soup, sugar, flour, granola bars, and more. They also were able to purchase water, vegetable oil, and oranges.
Among the volunteers loading vehicles were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Elder Norman, Elder York, and Elder Little, who all spent the day loading boxes.
Another community volunteer present was Miriam Jones, who is a community outreach specialist with the University of Arizona. She was providing handouts to community members with information on mold cleanup and reducing exposure to dust.
She said she came out on her own because she felt like it was something that was needed and could be helpful for those recovering from the flood.
Bobbie Ravenkamp, Globe Lions Club secretary and member since 2013, also was on hand to oversee distribution.
“We need to be part of the solution,” she said. “LCIF responds to disasters worldwide.”
“I wanted to help make a difference,” she added.
The Lions Club is the largest service organization in the world, located in 209 countries with 1.4 million members. They provide service in a multitude of areas including childhood cancer, diabetes, disaster relief, environment, humanitarian, hunger, vision, youth, and mental health. The Lions Club is always looking for new members. For more information, visit lionsclubs.org.
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