Lions Clubs Exceed the Challenge to Increase Giving as Costs and Needs Rise
Lions Club members from Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County have donated $48,369 to Sights for Hope so far in 2022-2023, exceeding Sights for Hope’s requested increase in giving.
In its annual fundraising letter to Lions groups, Sights for Hope asked them to increase their donations by 10%, citing rising costs driven by inflation and a recent 14% growth of its client population. The Lions had contributed $35,939 in 2021-2022. This year’s amount also is the highest achieved since 2019-2020, when nearly all the giving took place prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clubs in the Lehigh Valley area are part of Pennsylvania Lions District 14-K. Clubs in Monroe County are part of Pennsylvania Lions District 14-U. There are 35 clubs and district groups in Sights for Hope’s service area, and 31 have made gifts this year to date. Of these 31 clubs and groups, 20 increased their giving from the prior year.
Many of this year’s Lions Club gifts were announced Saturday at the Lions4Sight 2023 Breakfast at the Lehigh Valley Hotel and Conference Center in Bethlehem, PA. Clubs and groups have until June 30 to increase the giving total.
Sights for Hope traces its inception to efforts by Lions clubs from Lehigh and Northampton counties in 1928. Lions clubs and districts in the Lehigh Valley area and Monroe County provide financial support to Sights for Hope annually. Sights for Hope sponsors or supports the Lehigh Valley Sights for Hope Lions Club and the Monroe Sights for Hope Lions Club, a branch of the Stroudsburg Lions Club, to enable its clients to serve their communities.
Sights for Hope transforms the lives of people with visual impairments and blindness by removing the barriers to their independence. Sights for Hope’s services teach adaptive skills to accomplish daily life activities; provide supports that counter the effects of visual impairments and blindness; increase access to medical care, healthy food, and other essentials; and advance solutions that enhance sight capabilities. More than 40% of Sights for Hope’s clients live below or near the federal poverty line. Founded in 1928, Sights for Hope carries forward in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Monroe County a tradition of service inspired by Helen Keller and is a member of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind.
Image: David León of the Stroudsburg Lions Club speaking to the crowd with a hand-held microphone at Sights for Hope’s Lions4Sight 2023 Breakfast