A2 Charities Inc

"NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING LIONS DISTRICT A-2 CHARITIES INC."
 
Notice is hereby given of the Annual General Meeting of the Lions District A-2 Charities Inc.  The meeting will be held on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. at the District A-2 Friendship Convention at the Quality Hotel, St. Catharines.  All members of the Lions Family of District A-2 are invited to attend.  There will be elections for three (3) 3-year Directors to the Board.  If you are interested and would like to be nominated for one of these positions, please forward your intentions to Secretary Lion Jim McFarlane at:
Jim McFarlane, PZC, 22 St. Hilda's Court, St. Catharines, ON L2R 7H1 or by email to:
wlfmanjim@hotmail.com

   LIONS DISTRICT A-2 CHARITIES INC.
7 Brant Street East, P.O. Box 174, Cayuga, ON N0A 1E0

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LIONS DISTRICT A-2 JOURNEY FOR SIGHT

                It was in 1925 that Lions International accepted the ‘challenge’ from Helen Keller to become “Knights of the Blind”.  Since that time Lions have been instigating, servicing, and funding sight related programs on a world--wide scale.  We are also the principle force behind Canine Vision Canada, a dog guide training facility located in Oakville, ON.

                It was during the Lions year 1982-83 that then International President Eb Grindstaff introduced the event called ‘Lions Journey for Sight’ to more than 35,000 Lions Clubs worldwide.  The #1 mandate of the Journey for Sight is to create awareness of the need for sight CONSERVATION, as well as assisting those who are already blind or sight impaired.

                In District A2 the event was first organized in 1985 as a District wide bicycle ride.   It was felt that a ‘Journey’ of 100 miles spanning the breadth of the District would promote this awareness amongst the Clubs and the Public and this formidable distance would symbolize that every struggle, no matter how difficult, can be overcome.  There was only a small handful of riders who were able to complete that first ride and raise $5,000. 

                In the years since its’ inception the Journey has taken many different and exciting forms.  These included an International event at Fort Erie from New York State, over the Peace Bridge to Fort Erie with participants riding their bikes and walking the 10-mile distance.

                At its peak in the early 1990’s, the Journey was a tremendously successful fund raising event.  At one point there were close to 500 people taking part in 3 or 4 different venues across the District and raising close to $90,000. In one year.

                Currently there are Journey for Sight events being organized in all parts of the District including the North, South, Central and Western Regions. A conservative estimate would be that funds totaling between $40,000 and $50,000 are being raised annually through these efforts.

                These funds are administered through LIONS DISTRICT A2 CHARITIES INC.   Pledges are gathered and tax receipts are prepared for funds raised through each Journey. These funds are then forwarded to ‘A2 Charities’ for distribution to a number of sight related programs including the CNIB and Canine Vision Canada Guide Dogs.

The 1st Journey for sight car rally was held on September 19th 2009. Picture above are Lion Mike Detenbek chairman of the event presenting Lion George Hostik chairman from A2 Charities with a cheque in the amount of $6,000.00.

 MEETING SCHEDULE

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