The motto of the Lions Club is “We Serve,” and the Yelm Lions Club has taken that to heart, working to empower volunteers and serve the community.
Locally, the Yelm Lions are busy, carrying out several favorite community events, including the annual Christmas store where kids under the age of 12 get to shop for a gift for their adult guardians.
“It’s always so much fun to watch the kids with gifts in hand trying not to tell their parents what they’ve selected,” Christy Garcia, Yelm Lions Club Board member, said.
The Yelm Lions Club also hosts a highway clean-up and collaborates with the All Kids Win warehouse in Lacey, where Lions volunteers spend hours filling up plastic bags with food items for middle and high school students in North Thurston, Tumwater and Olympia and K-12 students in Tenino, Rainier, Yelm and Rochester school districts.
“It’s for youth that don’t have a permanent home to live in [and] are given a bag of food each week so they have food on the weekend,” Garcia said.
Globally, the Lions Club also helps with vision needs.
“In our club, we have a budget set aside for those in the community who cannot afford eyeglasses and eye exams,” Garcia said. “We work directly with a couple of local vision clinics and do fundraising during the year — such as our concession stand at Movies in the Park — and then give the funds right back to the community.”
The Yelm Lions Club has a monthly meeting at 7 a.m. on the third Tuesday of every month at Mr. Dougs restaurant and sometimes has guest speakers like the Yelm superintendent at the meeting.
People interested in joining the Yelm Lions Club can check out its Facebook page, or they can reach out via email at Yelmlionsclub@hotmail.com.
People can rent out the Yelm Lions Cabin for events by contacting Garcia, 360-480-9126. The cabin can seat about 50 people, and it includes tables and folding chairs.
“It is perfect for birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers and graduation parties,” Garcia said.
The cabin has two restrooms there and one wheelchair-accessible entrance. People renting out the cabin also have access to a kitchen with a refrigerator and an oven and stove.
For more info, go to www.facebook.com/yelmlions.
