SERVICE PROJECTS
Lions Park:
For 50 years, the Bremerton Central Lions continues it's participation in the maintenance and improvements to the Lions Park operation. To date more than $150,000 in materials and labor have been contributed. In 2017 our Foundation donated $48,000 to the Bremerton Parks and Recreation Department to fund this climbing structure for younger age children.
Salvation Army Bellringer:
On a Saturday every year in December, club members replace Salvation Army Bellringers at one of their locations in Bremerton, relieving the Army of the necessity of paying others on that day. See the Home Page for recent history.
Bremerton-Kure Sister City Program:
Under the Sister City program, we sponsor the exchange each year of three students from the community, while hosting three students from Kure, Japan. Lions are in the interview and selection process and pay one-half of the transportation costs of the Bremerton students. Every five years, adults from Bremerton and Kure also conduct exchange visits.
Vision Screening:
Our club members donate many hours doing vision screening at local elementary schools on a regular basis throughout the year.
In most years, our club also hosts the Northwest Lions Health Screening Van for screenings for blood pressure, diabetes, hearing, glaucoma and vision at no cost to the community.
In addition to these service projects, our club provides volunteer labor for numerous community projects throughout each year, such as those sponsored by United Way, City of Bremerton and other community service organizations.
COMMUNITY MONETARY DONATIONS 2019-20
$2,227 to a number of local needy community residents to pay for eye exams and eyeglasses.
$555 to the Bremerton Foodline.
$300 to the Kitsap Sun Bellringer Fund, benefitting local food banks.
$300 to the Kitsap Water Festival to sponsor the Orkidstra Concert.
$500 to the Bremerton Schools Alumni Foundation in Support of their Back To School Fair.
$375 to the Bremerton Backpack Brigade.
$50 to purchase food and comfort packs for homeless members of our community.
$100 to purchase a large collection box to be installed permanently at Lowe's in East Bremerton, where shoppers can drop off eyeglasses and hearing aids.
$222 to purchase supplies for the farewell party for the exchange students from Bremerton's Sister City of Kure, Japan.
Funds Controlled By The Foundation
The following donations were approved the the Club Board of Directors. The Bremerton Central Lions Charitable Foundation allocates some funds for donations that are requested by our club. The Foundation approved the following donations requested by the club.
$4,000 to Bremerton Parks and Recreation for 14 signs on the Bremerton Bridge Trail.
$500 to Days For Girls for feminine hygiene products for needy girls in Kitsap County.
$1750 allocated for airfare for Bremerton's exchange students to it's Sister City of Kure, Japan.
$1,000 to LCIF for the Lions of Austrailia for relief efforts during the wildfire outbreak.
$1,000 to LCIF for the Lions of Japan for relief efforts following Typhoon Hagibis.
$500 to Camp Leo, a Lions camp for youths with diabetes.
$500 to Project New Hope, providing therapy and coping skills for veterans suffering with PTSD, in a forested setting during a weekend.
$200 to the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center in Lacey, WA.
$200 to Lions Multiple District 19's CARE program, which provides direct relief to a suffering community in a third world country.
$1,000 each to the Bremerton Salvation Army, Bremerton Foodline, Bremerton Backpack Brigade and the Kitsap Rescue Mission.
$300 to the Kitsap Water Festival
FUNDRAISERS
Each May we hold our famous "White Cane" program, soliciting funds for the NW Lions Foundation for Sight and Hearing. This money helps support our Eye Bank in the process of transferring corneal tissue from donors to transplant recipients.
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Each year on Armed Forces Day, prior to the parade we host our annual Pancake Breakfast on Fourth Street in downtown Bremerton. Last year we raised over $3,000. Proceeds from this event allow us to give at least one $1,000 scholarship to a worthy Bremerton High School student each year.
Each year on all three days of the Labor Day weekend, we occupy a booth at the Blackberry Festival on the Bremerton Boardwalk and sell our world famous Blackberry Slugs to their anxiously waiting fan base. Last year a producer from "This and That Northwest" dropped by to check us out. You can find out what goes on by checking out their broadcast here (scroll down to Bremerton Central Lions). Last year we raised $4,000 with this effort.
In the fall we host a Dinner and Auction, which has become quite popular and is one of our major fundraisers. Administered through our Charitable Foundation, this event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years for the Lions community service projects.
In 2019, more than $60,000 was raised for the Foundation, $15,000 of which went to this year's Fund-a-Need: The entry nursing program at Olympic College.
