Hot Springs Village Breakfast Lions club

---

The Hot Springs Village Breakfast Lions was chartered on March 21, 1977 with the sponsorship of the Hot Springs Village Evening Lions.  We currently have about 42 members and meet twice monthly.

The Hot Springs Village Breakfast Lions Club is a community service organization that is part of the Arkansas Multiple District #7 which in turn is part of the Association of Lions Clubs International.  Lions Clubs International has 1.4 million members in 200+ countries and districts.  This makes Lions Clubs International the largest service organization in the world.  The Breakfast Lions subscribes to the Purpose, Ethics and Vision of the Lions Clubs International.

The purpose of the Breakfast Lions shall be:

• To create and foster a spirit of understanding among the people of the world.
• To promote the principles of good government and good citizenship.
• To take an active interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of our community.
• To unite the members in the bond of friendship, good fellowship and mutual understanding.
• To provide a forum for the open discussion of all matters of public interest; provided, however, that partisan politics and sectarian religion shall not be debated by club members.
• To encourage service-minded people to serve their community without personal financial reward, and to encourage efficiency and promote high ethical standards in commerce, industry, professions, public works and private endeavors.

Throughout our 42 years, we have contributed $979,899 to help the vision impaired and to help our community. Projects which serve our community include:

• Preschool Vision Screening for children ages 2 through 5 throughout Garland and surrounding counties to detect early vision problems.
• Collection of Glasses for repair and recycling in areas of need throughout the world
• Keep Hot Springs Village Beautiful road side litter collection three times per year
• Meals on Wheels in the village for the month of January
• Two scholarships to the summer Blind Camp plus volunteer assistance at the camp.
• Active participation in the support of the daily activities of the summer Blind Camp at Yorkton Bay on Lake Ouachita.
• Transportation for the vision impaired
• Support of the FOCUS program to help aging villagers with loss of eye sight.
• Sponsor of an International Peace Poster and Essay contests for 12 & 13 year old school children to create an artistic vision of international peace.
• Diabetes emergency kits for school children in classrooms and on busses.

Projects and organizations we assist with the funds that we raise include:

• World Services for the Blind: An organization in Little Rock that trains the blind or visually impaired to function independently, to live full, productive lives with dignity and self-respect.
• Arkansas Lions Eye Bank and Laboratory: An organization that helps restores vision through corneal transplants donated to provide sight to someone in need.
• Mid-South Sight and Hearing: Treats indigent patients from Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee in an effort to preserve and restore their sight or hearing.
• Lions of Arkansas Foundation: Lions helping Arkansas Lions serve the needs of the state of Arkansas.
• Lions Club International Foundation: Lions helping Lions serve the world wide needs.
• Lions Leader Dog program in Rochester, Michigan.
• Other local charities such as Red Cross, Teen Challenge of Arkansas, AR Sheriff's Ranch, Ouachita Children, Samaritan Ministries, Potters Clay, SCAT, local food banks and many others.

We raise our funds with the following projects:

• Annual Golf Tournament in October at one of the village courses.
• Chili Day and Silent Auction on the second Saturday in March at the Coronado Center.
• White Cane Day: A once a year collection at the entrances of local businesses.
• Flag Sales: Installation of flag poles and flags for village residences.
• Indoor Yard Sale: A once a year garage type sale held in the village.
• Village Entertainment Partnership: Support of stage or music productions within the village.