The Ruston Lions Club engages in four major club projects throughout the year. Two of the projects are fundraisers while the other two are community service projects.

 

·         Annual Chicken Barbecue – This event is usually held in October and accounts for a little less than 50% of the Clubs fundraising proceeds. Members sell tickets, prepare to cook, cook chickens, assemble and serve meals, and cleanup. From early ticket sales through cleanup the event lasts 3-4 weeks with most of the work concentrated during the week of the event.

·         Annual Lions Golf Tournament – This event is usually held in late May and accounts for the remainder of the clubs fundraising proceeds. Members support the event by selling sponsorships, securing prizes, recruiting players, and assisting on the day of the tournament. From early sponsorship sales to the actual tournament the event lasts 3-4 weeks.

 

·         CubSight Screenings - CubSight is a preschool vision screening program designed to prevent childhood blindness through early detection and treatment for the most common vision disorders that can lead to amblyopia (lazy eye). The Ruston Lions Club is the custodian of a leading edge technology screening instrument that is used to screen children across all of Lincoln Parish. Lions do not interpret screening results but rather forwards those results to a State Coordinator who provides expert interpretation. This is a year round program but heavily concentrated in the early part of the school year. Members support this program by volunteering for Screening Teams who conduct sessions of 1-2 hours duration during normal school hours.

·         Salvation Army Bell Ringers – Members support this annual Salvation Army Fundraiser by volunteering to “ring the bell” in one hour shifts, at one or two high traffic areas around the city as designated by local Salvation Army staff. This event usually occurs on two separate weekends near Christmas.

 

Consistent with the major focus areas of Lions Clubs International, the Ruston Lions Club provides monetary support to programs that serve the needs of people who are blind or visually impaired and to programs designed to meet the needs of young people in the community and the state. Although the actual amounts may vary based on fundraising results the Club generally provides support to the following organizations in the proportions noted - 

 

·         Louisiana Lions Eye Bank                             19%

·         Louisiana Lions Eye Foundation                    23%

·         Louisiana Lions Children’s Camp                   23%

·         Eye glasses assistance                                  9%

·         Other sight related programs                          9%

·         Local Youth Programs                                     9%

·         All other                                                            8%

 

The Ruston Lions Club is on the web at http://lionwap.org/eclub/sites/RustonLA/