Dear Fellow Lions
This is a late report on one of our annual signature events – Project Linus Blanketeering!
Lion Leslye put a lot of thought and preparation into this event, which was held via Zoom, as in the previous year, on February 26, 2022,
You find more details in the attached report Lion les put together.
2022 March 2022 Project Linus Report Leslye
Delivering well over 100 lovingly made blankets for children in crisis situations is a rewarding moment – heartfelt thanks to all helpers!
During the weekend before Thanksgiving Cupertino De Anza Lions Club held their 40th Annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.
This year the beneficiaries were 220 needy families with students in Trace, Hughes, Rosemary, and Empire Gardens Elementary Schools, YWCA, Second Harvest Food Bank and Farmworkers in the Watsonville area.
Prior to the event we published on social media, requesting donations and food.
We were delighted with the response that generated a significant amount of cash donations and many bags of food (see photo below)
Over the weekend and for delivery on Monday, November 22nd, a total of over 50 volunteers spent an estimated 400 hours soliciting donations, counting, packing, shopping, and delivering the food. In total we collected over $6,500.00 in cash and estimate we collected $14,000.00 in food donations.
The featured image at the top gives a visual of the size of the task.
One of the major benefits of this event is that we introduce non-Lions of all ages to experience the fun and satisfaction of public service.
Special thanks to the West San Jose-Campbell Lions Club, all volunteers and generous community donors who helped make this event such a success.
BREAKING NEWS!
Our DeAnza Lions Club received a lovely “Certificate of Appreciation” from Project Linus for our contributions to this wonderful cause!
Project Linus Fall 2020
During this time of isolation, time seems to have come to a slow crawl. It was sad watching the calendar change while our Lion community was able to do less and less service. Trying to come up with a way to get us together and to serve, an idea came. Maybe we could try a Project Linus Zoom event. It could be a chance for us to see each other via Zoom outside of “a Club Meeting” where we could chat and make a blanket for children in need. Community and community service! Most of our Club members have seen and participated in a Blanketeering evening at least once over the last ten years so it seemed a comfortable and natural way to go.
The process was old and new. We gathered the fleece during a Labor Day 60% sale and got a teacher to Joann Fabrics with her ID so our discount could be even greater. We were able to purchase 73 fleeces within our budget. We figured out a way to make a kit filled with almost all the necessary items to send home to participants, observing the COVID 19 recommendations of no contact. Then things changed dramatically! A Club member and Girl Scout Troop leader reached out to her troop, another troop and her elementary school and invited them to join us in this community service project. All organizations said yes. When the sign-up deadline arrived, we had 60 new people signed up to participate with us. We had to go back to Joann’s to buy 40 more pieces of fleece in order to fit the need. (Expenses were covered by the other organizations so DAL could stay within our annual budget.)
Event day arrived on September 19th. More than twenty onlookers were signed on (14 of whom were Scouts and students!) as we proceeded to make our blankets. Lion Leslye tried to provide some guidance and answer questions as we all followed the instructions provided by Project Linus. Then Blanketeers began announcing that they had completed their blankets!! With every announcement, the cowbell was rung to keep up the DAL tradition set by young, future-Lion, Eli Erickson a few years back. (I don’t know if online participants could hear it but it was pretty noisy at the house as the bell rang recognizing everyone’s success.) We were online for about two hours and we got great, positive feedback from those who completed the survey we sent out (what a huge relief!).
The greatest news is that we delivered 114 blankets to Project Linus! We should all be so excited. This is the most Cupertino DAL has ever donated after one Blanketeering event and it is all because of you all for having trust in the vision and wanting to be a part of community service once more. We also have to give a special shout-out to Lion Claire who had the foresight to reach out and include the perfect organizations to partner with us in this project. By the way, our blankets will most likely be going to local fire victims so we should also be proud knowing we might have been able to help our little neighbors in need if only with a warm, fuzzy blanket.
Dear Fellow Lions –
The “Canine Companions for Independence” (CCI) Gold Classic tournament took place on Friday, September 4th, 2020 – at the Cinnabar Hills Golf Club in San Jose!
Lion Les was busy participating at the online auction, but was sadly out-bid in the items she was interested in. We are waiting for a full report from the event.
In the meantime a speaker for CCI will join our PM zoom meeting on October 7. Details will be communicated via email
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A Shout Out to Lions Claire, Jen and Jeff who organized and managed our 40th year of the Cupertino De Anza Charity Food Drive. This year we provided 2 weeks worth of food to over 170 families in need and sent several trucks/SUV’s full of food to local charities.
Omar’s Dream Run is in its 7th year, and like in the past few years, it was held at Hellyer Park in South San Jose. Our club provided extra tables and support for financial transactions. Lions Eli, Ron, Jeff and Mike looked after the hauling back and forth of tables and chairs, while Lion Al and Barb took care of the financial side. Lion Claire participated with her two girls, and all 3 got a medal! Way to go!
As usual the event was amazingly well organized with dozens of young students volunteering with the elaborate set up. Lion Al estimates that around $ 50k were donated to the cause – which will provide learning tools, like computers, to young hospitalized students who can follow their classes from their hospital beds. As last year, Lion Claire’s friend Portia sent a little note and posted a few photos, too:
Hello! Here are some pictures of my niece and her classmate Coral, who Omar’s Dream sponsored after we connected them after the run last year! She is in remission 🎉❤️ and receiving maintenance chemo treatment. Her parents are both active military and they are being transferred to Columbus, OH soon, so we were so lucky to get to run with her this year!
More details to come
