One can only be surprised at the number of ways the Lions Club in Parrsboro quietly serves the community and surrounding area.  Funds are raised, activities are supported and grants are made to numerous worthwhile agencies, groups and individuals both locally, nationally and internationally with little to no fanfare.    The following list will give visitors to our site some idea of the wide range of activities in which your local Lions Club is involved.

 TV Bingo every Tuesday night at 6:00 PM at the Lions Den.

This is a major fundraiser for the Lions Club which assists the club in conducting its activities in the community and surrounding area.

Plan Indonesia Child Sponsor

The Lions of Parrsbor sponsor a child in Paga, Indonesia under the auspices of Plan Indonesia.   This group concentrates its efforts on assisting children with health, education and nutrition in an economically depressed region where 52% of the populations lives on less that $2 US a day!   Devastated by the earthquake and tsunami in 2004 the region has still not recovered and it is the children who suffer the worst.

We have sponsored Yoseph Kota, an 11 year old boy who is now attending school, a 45 minute trip each way.   With a new baby brother and recovering from influenza, your Lions are pleased to be making a difference in the life of a child, and his family.  

Yoseph Kota, our sponsored child

Purina Walk for Dog Guides    

Conducted every June to help raise funds to assist with the training of guide dogs for the visually impaired.  Now being organized and conducted by the LEO Club.

Old Home Week  July 12 - 16, 2011

See calendar for events and updates.   In it's 64th year this is annually a major effort by the Parrsboro Lions Club keeping our past alive and our future involved.

The doll carriage parade is just one of the events of Old Home Week

World Service Day  
World Service Day marks the anniversary of the founding of the  Lions Club in 1917.  Individual clubs 
mark the Anniversary in different ways, none of which include a birthday cake or a party.  Clubs mark
the occasion by providing a special service within their community,  be it running a pancake breakfast, 
or as occurs here, distributing flowers and fruit baskets to shut ins, and the residents of the various care 
centres in our area. 

Collection of used eye glasses, hearing aids
The Lions collect and recycle old eye glasses and hearing aids for the benefit of 
those who otherwise would be unable to afford these critical devices and aids to 
living.


Collection of used postage stamps

Often overlooked is the collection of used postage stamps by the Lions , which are then sold and the proceeds contribute to meeting international crises and disaster relief such as tsunami relief  in Japan and relief efforts after the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Drug Awareness Contest

This programme is run by Lions in partnership with the schools and the RCMP and is intended to raise general awareness in the youth of the dangers of drug use and abuse.   Coupled with the fingerprint programme it demonstrates the Lions commitment to the youth of today and the community of the future.

Speak Out Contest

This annual event invites high school students to participate in an old fashioned public speaking contest.  It gives youth an opportunity to research, organize and then verbally present a short paper on a subject in which they are interested, and then defend their position to questions posed by a panel of judges.  This contest instils in the participants a degree of confidence in public speaking which is rare in the general population, as even most adults are not comfortable about standing in front of an audience and speaking.

Bursaries in Parrsboro & Advocate High Schools

The Lions Club in Parrsboro supports students who have professed an interest in pursuing their educational goals.   Students in both Parrsboro and Advocate High Schools are selected annually for a bursary to assist them in this goal.    The bursaries are often awarded in consultation with school staff and can usually be expected to be based on need however selection criteria change from year to year.

This year six graduates in Parrsboro who are children or relatives of Lions Club members were selected to each receive a $200 bursary and one student in Advocate HS received a $500 bursary.   

Fingerprinting of primary students in Parrsboro & Advocate Schools
This programme is conducted annually in partnership with the local RCMP
as service for the safety of the children in South West Cumberland County. 

Arena in winter for hockey, figure skating & other ice activities

The Lions Club owns and operates the community arena for the benefit of the community, encouraging recreational activities, physical fitness, responsible citizenship and just plain good fun.   The arena is made available frequently at no cost to the public for public skating along with the other hockey and figure skating activities.

The arena is also used to host Relay for Life (which with the Lions Den is made available at no charge); the annual Gem and Mineral Show (the largest of its type east of Montreal); the annual Auto Show and Shine; and the Don Yorke annual Memorial Ball Tournament Dance, for which the Lions assume responsibility for half the cost of security for the event.

The Lions are currently involved in working toward a more energy efficient arena and have dedicated $10,000 as our contribution.    The province is contributing the remaining 80% of the cost of this upgrade.

 Parrsboro Food Bank 

Several Lions members volunteer hours each month at the local food bank with little to no recognition,  once again living up to the motto 'we serve'

 Christmas Baskets

Each year the Lions give and collect donations in order to create a large number of Christmas baskets for deserving families in the community and surrounding area.   Once again Lions 'serve' in order that others may enjoy more fully the Christmas season.

Additional Activities

Just in case the reader thinks that the Lions of Parrsboro limits its activities to those listed above, in the past year the following organizations and activities have received active financial or volunteer support:     THE ANNUAL BLIND GOLF TOURNAMENT;   SENIOR GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM OF PSHS, UNIFORM REPLACEMENT;   KIDS HELP PHONE;  HEART AND STROKE FOUNDATION;  NS EPILEPSY FOUNDATION;  BERNIE BURKE GOLF TOURNAMENT;   PARRSBORO RADIO;  THE PARRSBORO GOLF CLUB JUNIOR GOLF PROGRAMME  (more to be added to this list as I learn of them)