The Lions Club International has chartered a new club in Ansonia and is roaring for new members.
(Get it? Lions … Roaring. OK, moving on.)
Seriously, the Ansonia Lions Club was formed in mid May, said Joan Radin, owner of Lear’s Pharmacy on Wakelee Avenue.
Radin is one of the 30 members who helped charter the new club. She was encouraged by her friend, Michele Gandy, to join.
The Lions Club appealed to Radin’s altruistic nature and her desire to make a difference.
“In my business, I have a chance to sit and talk to customers about what is going on in the neighborhood.” Radin said. “The Lion ‘s Club is a beautiful organization that does a lot of wonderful things that people have no idea is going on. I believe you have to promote good things because there is so much bad going on.”
Radin said the Ansonia Lions Club is already designing programs to help the community such as collecting school supplies and winter coats for families where parents have recently lost their jobs.
Rosemarie Spatafore, owner of E‑Z Travel and one of the Ansonia Lions Club’s founding members, said she is impressed by the club’s responsible bookkeeping and its use of donations.
“The biggest thing about the Lions is that 100 percent of funding is given back,” Spatafore said.
Spatafore is a member of the Seymour Lion’s Club and is the “Guardian Lion” for the new Ansonia group.
Spatafore said Lions Clubs in the state are currently raising money for the Yale Pediatric Eye Center. They have a goal this year of one million dollars and they are presently at $450,000.
“Families use to have to go to Pennsylvania for eye treatment and now they can go to Yale to see the oncologist at the Pediatric Center,” Spatafore said.
The Ansonia Lions Club meets the first Thursday at John J. Sullivan’s restaurant at 557 Wakelee Avenue in Ansonia.
