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Helping those in need in our community.
The DeAnza Lions Community Outreach program is directed to helping disadvantaged individuals. Each year we provide funds, support and a helping hand to hundreds of adults and children addressing issues of education, health, hunger and emotional well-being. This effort is highly leveraged through our partners in schools and charity organizations that help us identify each individual need, the generous support of local businesses that donate materials and services and the generous support of our and individual contributors who, through , help finance our outreach projects. Together we are able to make a big difference in the lives of those less fortunate.
Good vision is essential to a child’s education. Some 80% of what a student learns students learn is through their visual system, yet one in four children has a vision problem that can interfere with learning. Many of those students come from financially disadvantaged families who cannot afford the cost of eye exams or eye glasses. The DeAnza Lions have teamed with schools and optical companies to provide the gift of sight to these children and maintain their hope of escaping the cycle of poverty through education. In most cases, we are able to provide refractive eye exams and glasses with charitable funding of as little as $50 per student. We are currently providing for eye exams and eye glass prescriptions at a rate of two individuals per week.
This program is made possible through the generosity of our partnering sponsors, the Luxottica Foundation, Lens Crafters and Sears Optical. Luxottica is the world’s largest eyewear company. The DeAnza Lions purchase $50 vouchers through their Foundation’s OneSight program that enable a needy student or adult below the Federal Poverty level to receive a basic pair of glasses. We work with schools to assure that each student applicant meets the minimum poverty level and lack of insurance requirements qualifies for the program. Then help set up the eye exam and subsequent fitting with a partnering optician. Our partners typically provide their services free of charge as part of this program.
The families, schools and students affected by benefitting from this community outreach program have expressed immense gratitude. Many of these students see the blackboard and textbooks clearly for the first time. As Knights of the Blind, the DeAnza Lions take great pride in this outreach program as so much is leveraged with so little. Funding of as little as $1000 can dramatically change the lives of as many as 20 students. .
Helping families with severely handicapped children through Camp Costanoan in Cupertino
For over 30 years the DeAnza Lions have maintained an ongoing financial and hands-on relationship with the severely handicapped children of , formerly known as Camp Costanoan of the Crippled Children Society, in the foothills outside of Cupertino. The weekend and week-long (summer) camps at Via West provide an enriching experience for children and adults with special needs and disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome, while allowing their families a much deserved break from the on-going stress of caring for the severely handicapped. Many of these families have the additional stress of financial hardship. Through the charity fund, the DeAnza Lions offer camperships to these families at an average grant of $680 per child. The club provides 4-6 camperships each year.
In addition to camperships, the DeAnza Lions donate funds and hundreds of volunteer hours to the painting, cleaning, building and repairing of the structures and grounds of Via West. This is a highly leveraged effort that thanks to material donations from Home Depot and other local businesses requires only minimal charity funding.
Providing free diabetes screenings with the A.J. Robinson Health Screening van
Diabetes is a silent killer that affects 7.8% of the U.S. population, with nearly a quarter of those cases undiagnosed, particularly in the young and poor. Left untreated, diabetes may cause heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney and nervous system disease and death. To aid in the early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, the DeAnza Lions conduct and fund free health screenings to hundreds of people at public events held several times per year. The tests are administered by the Lions (AJ Robinson) Mobile Screening Unit manned by DeAnza Lions volunteers and a registered nurse or doctor who measure height, weight, blood pressure, respiratory rate, blood sugar, visual acuity, color perception and hearing. The tests highlight risks and indicators for blindness and diabetes that alert patients to seek a health professional for follow-up. Check our calendar for the date and location of our next mobile health screening.
Teaching students about the American Flag
For many years the DeAnza Lions have taught the history and meaning of the American Flag to 3rd grade students in elementary schools throughout our community. Following a 20-minute presentation the Lions give each student a small individual American Flag for which to care and honor. The Lions have similarly gifted the flag to new citizens during swearing-in ceremonies as a gesture of welcome and honor. Again, it is the generous contributions of ordinary citizens and that provide the necessary funding allowing us to perform this valued DeAnza Lions tradition.
Providing Thanksgiving meals to those in need Since the mid-1980’s the DeAnza Lions Club has organized an Annual Food Drive on the weekend before Thanksgiving in order to support the less fortunate in our community. From modest beginnings, the Food Drive has expanded over the years and today we deliver Thanksgiving food boxes to more than 150 low-income families and people in need. Each delivery provides food ingredients that should last a family of four for at least a week. The club supports schools and charity organizations, such as Even Start Family Learning Center, the Support Network for Battered Women and Young Parent Program. Lions club members as well as the affiliated LEO club members collect, box and distribute over $10,000 worth of food donations received during the weekend from generous shoppers at Lucky’s stores in San Jose and Santa Clara.
Assisting local students gain valuable lifelong skills via the Student Speaker Contest Every year the DeAnza Lions Club financially supports high school students who enter in the Student Speaker Contest, organized by the Lions Club districts. This support can include transportation as well as room and board for contestants that make it to the later rounds and need to travel to regional and zone events. In addition, DeAnza lions provide judges and food for the local events.
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