Aquia Evening Lions Club - Society and Culture

Lions are members of community service clubs, dedicated to the idea that the men and women who live in a community are in the best position to know who needs help and why. These local clubs are part of the world's largest such organization, with 1.4 million members serving in more than 180 countries and geographical areas. The association is both non-political and non-sectarian. Lions are now best known for their sight-related programs, including SightFirst, the world's largest blindness prevention program.

There are two Lions Clubs in Aquia Harbour: the Aquia Evening Lions, whose membership is entirely female, and the Aquia Host Lions, whose membership is entirely male. The Aquia Evening Lions were originally chartered in 1981 as the Aquia Lioness Club, which was a women's auxiliary to the Aquia Harbour Lions. Once Lions International offered women full membership rights, the Aquia Evening Lions Club was chartered in 1992, and the men's club name was changed to the Aquia Host Lions Club. The two clubs continue to have a close relationship, and work together on several projects and fundraisers throughout the year.

For more than seventy years the Lions have been recognized throughout the world for their service to the blind and visually impaired. A majority of the world's eye banks are established and supported by Lions, as are hundreds of clinics, hospitals and eye research centers. Many members of our local community have been helped with free quality eye care, eyeglasses and hearing exams, that they would not otherwise have been able to obtain.

All funds raised are used to support worthy community and Lions projects, including, but not limited to the following:

* Examinations for the fitting of eyeglasses and hearing aids for the needy;
* Collection and refurbishing of old, discarded eyeglasses and hearing aids through the Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centers in Roanoke and Falls Church and the Hearing Aid Bank in Arlington - finished products are distributed overseas to centers of great poverty in developing countries;
* Health and welfare assistance to neighbors in need;
* Leader Dogs for the Blind;
* Old Dominion Eye Bank;
* Virginia Lions Hearing Foundation and Research Center;
* Lions of Virginia Foundation; and
* Virginia Lions Eye Institute

Lions International Objects

* To Create and foster a spirit of understanding among the peoples of the world.
* To Promote the principle of good government and good citizenship.
* To Take an active interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of the community.
* To Unite the clubs in the bonds 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.

Lions Code of Ethics

* To Show my faith in the worthiness of my vocation by industrious application to the end that I may merit a reputation for quality of service.
* To Seek success and to demand all fair remuneration or profit as my just due, but to accept no profit or success at the price of my own self-respect lost because of unfair advantage taken or because of questionable acts on my part.
* To Remember that in building up my business it is not necessary to tear down another's; to be loyal to my clients or customers and true to myself.
* Whenever a doubt arises as to the right or ethics of my position or action towards others, to resolve such doubts against myself.
* To Hold friendship as an end and not a means. To hold that true friendship exists not on account of the service performed by one another, but that true friendship demands nothing but accepts service in the spirit in which it is given.
* Always to bear in mind my obligations as a citizen to my nation, my state, and my community, as to give them my unswerving loyalty in word, act, and deed. To give them freely of my time, labor and means.
* To Aid others by giving my sympathy to those in distress, my aid to the weak, and my substance to the needy.
* To Be Careful with my criticism and liberal with my praise; to build up and not destroy.

Martha Soles - President
msoles@comcast.net

Bea Klapak - Secretary
beakon2@verizon.net

Florence Mittino - Membership
flomittino@comcast.net

Rachida McCravey - Membership
my4827@aol.com