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A big Thank You is due to all the De Anza Lions along with more than a dozen De Anza College LEOs who volunteered with the Grand Opening of the new Habitat for Humanity ReStore on May 31st. The club also donated $1,000. in the continuing efforts to support Habitat for Humanity.

The new 15,000 Sq. Ft. ReStore facility is located at 1608 Las Plumas Ave. San Jose near 101 & McKee. It is one of three in the Bay Area (the others being in Oakland and South San Jose)

Each Habitat ReStore accepts donations of quality new and gently used items including building materials from individuals and businesses in the community and sells them to the public at reduced cost, usually at 50-75% of the original retail value.  The proceeds help build homes in the area, making home ownership a reality for limited-income families.

Again thanks to all for your time and dedication.

Contributed by Lions Ron Ahearn & Ray Lancon

You would have if you had been with the De Anza Lions the evening of March 27^th. More than twenty-five Lions, Leos, friends and family members met that night at Cupertino’s Odd Fellows Lodge for our Club’s 4^th Blanketeering Party.

That warm and fuzzy feeling permeated the room as we were coached on how to convert a piece of fleece into a soft and cozy blanket that will be given to a child in need. As Blanketeers arrived, they selected their fleece, grabbed a table and spread out; with scissors in hand, all were ready to go. After some initial instruction—how to cut off the salvage and measure out the tassels for cutting and tying—the gang got started. Chitter-chatter, giggle-giggle, snip-snip-snip. Then, out of the din, rose an unmistakable sound, “Hee-onk, hee-onk!” It was not-so-little-anymore Eli squeezing a horn announcing the completion of the first blanket!! After that, let the wild ruckus start! As blankets were finished off, Eli was called to each table to announce the triumph. With feelings of great accomplishment, Eli and newest member-in-training Anjali were called to duty and (on top of blowing the horn!) asked to carry completed blankets to the table where Sharon Lee, Project Linus’ local Chapter Chair, was sewing on the final touch—a tag stating the blanket was made by Project Linus and the De Anza Lions.

In the midst of the work party, we listened and watched as Sharon gave a presentation describing Project Linus’ humble beginnings and telling the heartwarming story of how it grew to be the worldwide maker of blankets for children in need. After her presentation, the Blanketeers had a clearer vision of what they were doing there that Thursday evening and what an impact their simple contribution—only ~2 hours of their time!—will have. For those of you who are interested, please go to www.projectlinus.org to read the mission of this special organization and you will see why there is such a comfortable relationship between Linus and Lions.

At the end of the evening, our group completed fifty-one blankets and seventeen have since been completed at home totaling 68 Lion-made blankets donated to Project Linus this year. As our Blanketeers left, each knew they had done good work those last few hours. The flyer that was sent out to the Club announcing the event stated, “IT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL ALL WARM AND FUZZY INSIDE AND OUT”. Ask anyone who was there and I know they will tell you they felt the fuzz!

Special thanks to Lion Don Lang for arranging the venue; it is the perfect spot to do this sort of event. And extra-special thanks to Sharon Lee who has given up her evenings to come and join us each of these past four years. And thanks to all Blanketeers, present-past-and-future! Special, you all are!!

Contributed by Lion Leslye

In good tradition, the DeAnza Lions and the Sunnyvale Rotarians put together the 18^th annual Crab Feed on January 25^th, 2014. Six hundred tickets for 2 seatings were available for sale, only a few dozen remained unsold. Once again we were able to rent the Community Hall of St. Williams Parish in Los Altos – surely the regulars already knew the drill: where to park, where to check in, where to get drinks, etc.

As in previous years, the hall was soon filled with happy noise and cheerful music, presented by the famous Thrown-Together-Jazz-Band, while a substantial group of LEOs, Interact Students, and other high-schoolers lined up to wait the tables.

The scrumptious fare included staples like family-style salad, bowls of crispy crunchy garlic bread, spaghetti with tomato sauce and of course an endless supply of crab, prepared and cooked by volunteers of the FishMarket.

Lion Steve and his wife Ellen once again had worked full time jobs for weeks before, during and after the holidays to secure prizes for the raffle and the silent auction – the latter included a Disneyland outing with 4 hopper tickets and a 2 night stay in the Anaheim Marriott Hotel.

Thanks to our young helpers, tons of raffle tickets were sold, and all prizes were handed over to the happy winners. The sale of keys to the ominous lockbox went really well, too – from the proceeds, $ 1, 000 were donated to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan which struck parts of the Philippines in the first week of November 2013.

This year’s takings overall might be slightly lower than last year’s record profits due to the increased price of the crab, but the preliminary results show that all efforts in putting the event together paid off.

A roaring Thank You to all of our guests, sponsors and contributors!

We also want to thank all of our volunteers, Rotarians, LEOs, members of other youth clubs like Interact, the Fish Market, the Band, Lions and their family members for working to make this fundraising event a huge success.

The Cupertino DeAnza Lions had their Second Halloween Party Fundraiser (bash) on Saturday, October 19th, 2013. The event took place at the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center. About 70 adults and 50 kids had a great time with games, prizes, music and dancing. Food and drinks were of course served as well. We brought in a profit of $ 2,700.00 that will be used to provide eye exams and eye glasses for those who qualify for our “OneSight” program. It was a fun-filled family event. Thanks to all who helped, including the LEO crews. [contributed by Lion Mort]

Once again the DeAnza Lions and the Sunnyvale Sunrise Rotary club had teamed up for the annual crab feed on January 26^th, 2013. As always, two seatings were planned for 300 people each, and by golly, almost all tickets were sold, despite a slightly higher cost for each ticket this year.

For the fourth year in a row, the event took place at the Community Hall of St. Williams Parish in Los Altos. Our friends from the Fish Market restaurant arrived with fresh crab which was already cleaned so the usual scrubbing crew did not have to get up by 5:00am on Friday morning. 

Beer (Firehouse brewery), music (the Thrown Together Jazz Band), about $ 9,000 worth of gifts in kind (tirelessly solicited by Lion Steve and his wife Ellen) as well as hundreds of volunteer hours were donated to the event – all of it helps raising funds for the two clubs and its charities.

After serving a small salad, endless bowls with garlic bread, pasta and crab were served by eager high school students from various youth clubs, including LEO clubs from Monta Vista and Lynbrook High. While volunteers from the Fish Market helped cook the crab outside, a team of lions and Rotarians were busy in the kitchen, cooking, washing pots and serving bowls, and replenishing the latter with freshly baked garlic bread and pasta. Needless to say that lemon wedges, melted butter and lots of tomato sauce rounded out the dinner. 

Shouts of joy could be heard when a guest found that his or her raffle ticket matched the ticket number announced by the maître d’ or one of his little helpers – prizes and auction items worth $ 9,000 were raffled and auctioned off. At the end of the first round of diners, the band members lead a march through the densely populated hall, followed by many happy guests. 

After a short break, in which the tables were prepared for the second set of guests, the volunteers enjoyed a slice or two of Pizza, before another crowd of almost 300 people showed up.

This year’s takings in the lockbox amounted to $ 1420.00, earmarked for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, while overall funds raised amounted to $ 24,000. A roaring Thank You to all of our guests and contributors!

We also want to thank all of our sponsors, volunteers, Rotarians, Leos, members of other youth clubs like Interact, the Fish Market, the Band, Lions and their family members for orchestrating another successful fundraising event.

Contributed by Lion Dagmar