Royse City Lions earn Club of the Year award for outstanding service

Through prayer, hard work and service above self , the Royse City Lions Club is growing and making a positive impact in the community. With all of the great things being accomplished by the Royse City Lions Club, some may find its history a bit surprising.

The original Royse City Lions Club was chartered in March, 1946. Unfortunately, the club dwindled and disbanded over time.

The district rechartered the club in January 2008 with 23 charter members. The club met two times before the club president received news of a job transfer, and then the club ceased to exist except in name and on record.

After several preliminary meetings, the current club met for the first time on April 1, 2009… no joke, with Kathleen Tyre, club president, and two former charter members from the 2008 charter.

In June 2009, the current club president, Andrea Chandler, joined the club with her husband. The club grew a few members and lost a few for various reasons. In September 2010, the struggling group of three began their meeting with a simple prayer that the community would open up, accept the club and provide members.

Immediately after the prayer, the door opened and Kimberley Wheeler walked in to attend the meeting; she joined the club the next week. Interest in membership was growing, but no new members were added until June of 2011 when the club inducted three new members and proceeded to gain momentum. In 2011-12, the club reached 16 members and earned community recognition for numerous service projects.

The 2011-12 year was fantastic  for the Royse City Lions Club. They held their 1st annual Sight and Tissue Clinic, providing 32 residents, adults and children, with complete eye exams and glasses at no charge.

They independently assisted six local residents with eye exams, glasses, and eye surgery referrals to Lions Sight and Tissue Foundation of District 2×1.

The Lions also adopted the FM 548 Highway and can be seen onsite for clean up three to four times a year.

They organized the 2nd annual Send Santa to the Troops, which provided 50 care packages to military personnel stationed overseas.

Lions Club members assisted Royse City Main Street in unloading nearly 2,000 pumpkins for their pumpkin patch. Each Lion also volunteered their time to man the pumpkin patch.

The club provided its 2nd annual holiday party for the local head start classroom, and also arranged field trips for the class.

The club has participated the last two years in the district 2×1 service project called Sports Extravaganza, special Olympics for blind or visually impaired children. The club has also participated the last three years in the district 2×1 service project Snowball Express, honoring the children of fallen heroes since 9/11 with a weeklong, all-expense-paid vacation to Dallas from all over the world for fellowship and bonding to heal their hearts. Last year there were nearly 1,800 children and parents who attended.

Most recently, the Royse City Lions Club was the first community volunteer group to be onsite for local tornado victims – providing care packages, manpower, glasses, prescriptions, and assistance of all types to the families affected by the tornadoes. The club continues the efforts to assist the families with referrals and support.

The Royse City Lions Club makes all these projects possible by hosting fundraisers like their 3rd annual Texas Holdem Poker tournament, coming in September, as well as other smaller fundraisers throughout the year. One upcoming fundraiser, a Lions Club Open House Wineshare, will be in late May providing fellowship, meet and greet of members, and information about the local club.

District 2×1 spans west of Dallas, north of Carrollton, east of Commerce, south of Waxahachie. Within this region there are 68 clubs with average size of 30 members.

Royse City Lions Club received recognition as Kathleen Tyre received the International Presidents Leadership Medal of Honor, Melda Belk was awarded 2011-2012 Grass Root Lion of the Year for Royse City Club, Kimberley Wheeler received recognition for her passion of environment as she discussed what the District does to promote Environmental Awareness, as well as winning 2011-12 District 2×1 Lion Club of the Year. The District 2×1 awards the Lion Club of the Year award to the club that has provided the community and the district with outstanding service above self.

The District has called upon the Royse City Lions Club to hold various district chair positions such as Zone 4 Team Leader, Kathleen Tyre; District Environmental Chair, Kimberley Wheeler; District Opportunities for Youth, Andrea Chandler. It has been a great honor for the Royse City Lions Club to serve the community and receive such a recognition.

Royse City Lions Club ROARS!

Submitted by the Royse City Lions Club.

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