The Lions Clubs is an international service and charity organization which will celebrate its 75th year in Australia in 2022. With almost 70 clubs in the Sydney region (referred to as District 201N5) and more than 1,500 members, the various clubs perform a variety of charitable and service activities to support of a wide number of people who are in need as well as many global causes which include hunger, vision, diabetes, environment, and others.
In Bankstown, the local Lions club existed since around 1974; however, due to the aging of its members and the lack of youths in the club, it was decided that it would close and return its charter in June 2021. To prevent this from happening, the chairperson of Zone 6, Lion Graham Estreich, along with other cabinet members from the district need to refill the club with at least ten members by June 2022.
Being a service organization, the best way to attract other service minded individuals is by organizing a relevant activity. Thus, a food drive was organized in Bankstown Centro facing Woolworths in March 2022, with the collected donations going to One Meal, a local organization which arranges home-cooked meals for the needy in a variety of locations in the council area such as Riverwood. The food drive, which was initially planned for four days but had to be stopped at three due to having over-achieved its goals, was able to collect more than $32,000 worth of non-perishable food items weighing around 2,500 Kilograms. All these items were donated on the day to One Meal.
During the food drive, many individuals showed interest in becoming a part of the Lions Club of Bankstown. These 23 individuals were contacted later on and invited to an information night on 26 April, 2022 at the Rydges Hotel in Bankstown. During the event, Emma Williams from One Meal thanked everyone for their donations and shared how they were used and how happy the receivers were for getting them. Afterwards, the attendees introduced themselves briefly. This was later followed by an introduction to Lions and Leos (the junior branch of Lions) and other introductory speeches by District Governor Lion Sunil Amaratunga and Lion Elvio Munzone (Global Membership Team). During their speeches, the two Lions recounted some of the experiences which made them join Lions along with some of their achievements in the organization.
According to Lion Graham Estreich, “While all application forms are yet to be received, I am pleased to advise that with 10+ new member applications either received or pending, we will be in a position to recharge the Lions Club of Bankstown and have a young, energetic team to provide much needed community services in the Canterbury Bankstown LGA within the next few weeks.”
