From “LIFE IN THE VILLAGE” magazine, Spring 2019
With more than 1.4 million members and 45,000 clubs across the globe, Lions International is the largest service organization in the world. Today’s Lions are dedicated to helping those in need, just as they were more than 100 years ago when they were founded in 1917. At each Lions Club, talented and dedicated volunteers unite to fund projects in their local communities. As one of the thousands of worldwide chapters, the Greendale Lions are no exception.
FULFILLING A NEED
Since 1955, the Greendale Lions Club has been serving Greendale with a variety of service projects – always searching for ways to help where help is needed, and to make our Village a better place in which to live. During the 2018-2019 club year, the Club renewed its focus on our community and focused on the challenge of overcoming hunger.
According to Lions’ President Noelle Joers-Yanisch, “one of the Club’s most important initiatives launched this past year is a new program that is making a difference in our schools.” This initiative provides healthy snacks for students and monetary support of the school lunch program – both of which are designed to assure that healthy food is available for students in need.
The need for such a program came to light at a recent Lions Club meeting attended by Superintendent of Greendale Schools, Gary Kiltz. During this meeting, Kiltz discussed the state of Greendale schools, and the Lions learned about the increasing number of Greendale students who are on the free/reduced lunch program. Kiltz pointed out that the number of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch has more than doubled in the last eight years, increasing from about 12% in 2010 to about 25% in 2018. Statistics show that hunger impacts a student’s ability to learn.
Soon after the meeting, Joers-Yanisch met with Superintendent Kiltz to discuss ways the Lions could support the Schools. Following discussion with the Lions’ Board of Directors, Lion Pam Jankowiak volunteered to head up this program, and the “Healthy Snack Initiative” was born.
Although students in all three Greendale elementary schools and the middle school are encouraged to bring a “healthy snack” for midmorning break, some families are not able to provide them. This is where the Greendale Lions are helping to bridge that gap. Beginning in December (and continuing on a monthly basis through the end of this school year), a dedicated volunteer committee has shopped for an assortment of snacks and delivered them to each of the grade schools and the middle school so that no student in need goes hungry mid-morning.
Once the snacks are delivered, the schools’ principals and staff distribute items as they see fit. Some of the approved prepackaged snacks include pretzels, Goldfish crackers, Teddy Grahams, fruit cups, granola bars and breakfast bars. The Lions continually monitor snack inventories at each school, and refill them as needed. The committee also monitors the program monthly, from a quantity and popularity perspective. The committee will reconvene over the summer to determine how they can make the Healthy Snack Initiative even better to ensure its ongoing success.
In addition to providing healthy snacks, the Greendale Lions is also helping support school lunch accounts by providing discretionary lunch funds for at-need students. It became clear that there was a demonstrated need to assist with the increasing number of students who qualify for a Free/Reduced lunch program. The Lions’ initiative allows administrators, counselors and social workers to tap into the lunch account for a student who does not have free/reduced lunch status but, for whatever reason, would be without a meal if the account were not available (to pay for his/her lunch).
The Greendale Lions Club is pleased to partner with the Greendale School District on these important projects. Feedback from the principals has been positive thus far, as they now have the means to help their students stay focused on their studies. Helping to fight hunger is only one of the many ways the Lions Club serves the Greendale community. Additionally, the Club supports family-friendly events including the annual Easter Egg Hunt, a spring Pancake Breakfast, the Fourth of July Celebration, Village Days, Hay Days and Dickens of a Village.