Hickory Grove Lions Club
(volunteer, community, civic service organization.)
We are an affiliate of Lions Clubs International.
(the largest of all civic service organizations in the world)
“We Serve” the blind and visually impaired
with volunteer, charitable services.
Our service area is focused in North-east Charlotte, North Carolina. This includes the Plaza / Midwood, North Davidson, and Hickory Grove neighborhoods, although we have members from the entire Charlotte area.
Please explore this website to obtain more information about our club, and the charity services Lions Volunteers provide in your community.
Meeting Information
The Hickory Grove Lions Club meets on the third Monday of each month (with some holiday exceptions) at 6:00pm in the Computer Room Building located at:
3601 E. Independence Blvd.,
Charlotte, NC 28205
We are always Seeking New Members who are willing to give of their time to help others in need of assistance. We invite anyone who may be interested to visit our meeting. Please make prior arrangements with one of our club officers below.
Contact Us
President: Lion Rick Conder 704 537 9668
Secretary: Lion Carey Odom 704 537 9928
Vice President: Lion Greg Evangelist 704 491 6718
Vision for the Hickory Grove Lions Club
It is our desire to improve the quality of life of our blind and visually impaired neighbors. Our focus to accomplish this goal is to help provide adaptive equipment and provide opportunities to demonstrate alternative techniques in accomplishing task they may never have dreamed they could accomplish without sight. By surprising them as to what they can do, through motivation and encouragement, their self esteem can be improved. With a confidant attitude, they can often overcome their disability, be self sufficient, and reach amazing levels of accomplishment.
Our club’s activities that allow us to make this difference in the lives of our neighbors require various fundraising events and lots of hands on participation with the people we are trying to help.
Our biggest challenge for years has been finding new members willing to assist us in our endeavors. The need is huge and our club is small, however we are focusing on inviting likeminded people to join with us. We are also trying new ways to raise awareness in our community and publicize our club, hoping potential new members could approach us.
It is our VISION that, with enough participation from the community, Blindness could soon be considered simply an inconvenience instead of a disabling handicap.
HISTORY
Hickory Grove Lions Club History
The Hickory Grove Lions club (HGLC) was chartered on April 1, 1958 and has been an active club ever since. We are an affiliate of Lions Clubs International, witch was founded in 1917 in Chicago as a not for profit organization.
Inspired after meeting Helen Keller, Lions Clubs founder, Melvin Jones focused the organization’s efforts towards helping the blind and deaf. The International organization has grown to its current level of approximately 1.35 million members, representing more than 45,000 clubs, located in over 200 countries and geographic areas. At HGLC, and all Lions Clubs our motto is:
“We Serve”
At HGLC our club members have provided social outings, recreational activates, and needed home improvement services for the visually impaired in our community. We have also provided numerous transportation trips for visually impaired persons, collected hundreds of eye glasses for recycling, and more. We have also worked with other charitable organizations, such as The National Federation of the Blind of Mecklenburg County, by participating in fund raising activities. We have also participated yearly in the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Drive, and much more.
Over the years our club has worked diligently within the Lions Organization at every level. During its history, the club sponsored four new Lions Clubs and also a Leo Club. HGLC has met each Lions District Governor’s funding goals (For contributions to service projects within North Carolina) every year, based on club membership.
In the early eighties, HGLC had between 30 to 35 registered members, but like most clubs, has experienced a decline in membership over the years. At one time, HGLC members were all Melvin Jones Fellows (a Lions International award for achieving funding goals for world-wide projects). This has been accomplished through commitment of each member in the club by participating in the following fund raising activities.
- Door to door broom sales. 2) As many as two barbecues per year. 3) Selling Thousands of Camp Dogwood raffle tickets. 4) Lowe’s Motor speedway events. 5) Selling Auto Bell car wash tickets. 6) Other miscellaneous activities.
Funds raised from the activities previously outlined have allowed HGLC to help fund Lions International activates such as Disaster relief, Providing Eye care to impoverished areas around the world, and more. We also help provide Financing for activities in our state, like clinical eye research, providing adaptive equipment to the deaf and/or blind, Boys and Girls Homes, Mobil Eye Screening Services, and much more. We also sponsor attendees to the Visually Impaired Persons Fishing Tournament each fall at the N.C. coast, and sponsor Camp Dogwood summer campers. More locally, we make contributions to Metrolina Association for the Blind, and Lions Services, as well as provide matching funds for a number of community needs.
Our members have also volunteered countless hours of “hands on” service at Lions facilities and in Lions programs, both locally and across the state.
The services Lions work to achieve are focused to provide the resources and assistance to people in need that allow them to better themselves and improve their quality of life. Although our Club members come from various backgrounds, they are brought together by a common desire to help those who are less fortunate.