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The Madison County Lions Club had a very busy month in December; from meeting with Representatives of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. (AKA), to working on an eye-glasses drive to helping a local honor roll student stay on the honor roll. The Lions also fulfilled their Christmas tradition of bringing joy to ten of the senior citizens in the Madison County community by delivering boxes of food to them.
In December, Deloris Jones of the local chapter of AKA was a guest at one of the Lions Club's meetings, notifying the Lions that AKA had an ongoing service project to help with vision and other health-related issues of certain community members. Following much talk, the Lions joined into the effort.
"We get almost all of our requests for glasses and exams from our local eye doctor and they help to make sure we can provide them with the best possible care, a win-win for our community," said Lion Tim Dunn. "On Wednesday, Dec. 12, we got a call, that I later found was a referral from the Kiwanis Club of Madison, to help a young lady. I spoke with her school teacher and found out that the young lady could not even see the board, much less read anything on it."
Dunn continued to contact North Florida/South Georgia Eye Partners and had an emergency eye exam scheduled, as well as expedited the service on the glasses. Following a visit, the student received new glasses on Friday, Dec. 21. "She said this was the best gift she has ever gotten," said Dunn. "Her father had been trying to save for the exam and glasses since August and he is so happy there was a group to help his little girl."
Also on Friday, Dec. 21, the Lions gathered at Pic-N-Sav, the newest grocery store in Madison County, to fill boxes of groceries for the ten families that were selected and vetted by the Senior Citizen Council of Madison County. With the help from the community and the District Governor Bobby Wright, the Lions were able to fill two banana boxes with groceries, enough to last for a month hopefully, if not longer. The Lions also supplied the seniors with a $20 gift card for bread and milk.
"The feeling of overwhelming happiness as you deliver a box and watch their eyes lighten with love and happiness is worth everything in the world," said Dunn. "You feel as if you are on top of the world. This is the true spirit of Christmas, I feel guilty that I cannot share this with more people because of the warmth you feel while doing a good deed. I was asked by one of the seniors "why?" We serve. That by itself makes all the work we do throughout the year worth it all. To make a difference is the greatest gift we can give to the world and I want to thank everyone who helped the Madison Lions Club make that difference."