Lions Club features golf tournament, more

Founded in 1927 and one of the oldest of its kind in Minnesota, the Waseca Lions Club is hosting its annual golf tournament July 24 at the Lakeside Golf Course in Waseca. For $100 per participant, a hopeful golfer can make use of a golf cart and enjoy a provided lunch. Businesses and organizations are welcome to sponsor a hole for $125, prominently displaying their company name. Last year, the tournament included 15 teams. This year the Lions claim to have placed an order for ideal weather. 

 

While this event may be one of two fundraisers the club hosts all year, they do a lot more that may go unseen. 

 

The golf tournament and a pancake breakfast are the club’s only fundraisers, and are very popular events, according to past club president Diane Beckmann. 

 

“A small group of people, but we get a lot done,” Beckmann said. 

 

Thanks to their fundraisers, the public service group is able to assist organizations and activities in Waseca. The Lions Club gives annual scholarships, supports the Scouts, provides dictionaries for all third graders, works with the Can Do Canines, and helps with Thanksgiving food baskets, Journey for Service, Project New Hope and they helped fund the Waseca High School Robotics Team. 

 

The Lions also partner with Drs. Akre and Clark Eye Care to help provide around four students a year with glasses and eye exams; the club was instrumental in starting the fund drive for the March food challenge which donates to the Waseca Area Food Shelf. 

 

“Food insecurities have always been my passion,” Beckmann said. “A kid can’t learn if they’re hungry.” 

 

The group started with supplying a snack for the Backpack program, with every Lion asked to bring in a package of Goldfish crackers as the program needed 100 for a weekend. 

 

The Lions came through with 600 packages. 

 

“All you have to do is ask,” Beckmann explained.

 

From there, the Lions challenged other service organizations and businesses in Waseca–the generosity of all working together brought in $30,000 worth of food this past March. 

 

Along with that, the club supports the diabetes foundation, hearing foundation and cancer foundation. 

 

The Lions’ mission statement is “To create and foster a spirit of understanding among all people for humanitarian needs by providing voluntary services through community involvement and international cooperation.”

 

The Lions Club does not meet during the summer, but meets every first and third Wednesday of the month starting in September. Beckmann said they are always looking for new members.