The motto for the Waynesburg Lions Club is simple: “We serve.” Despite the simple motto, the club has a multitude of annual projects that provide the local community and communities abroad with events and resources.
“My household volunteers. That’s what I was brought up to do; to help other people. I feel best when I’m helping someone. I don’t expect anything back, and I don’t think anyone in our organization does. That’s what we do,” says Eleanor Chapman, secretary for the Waynesburg Lions Club.
The club of 58 members organize several ways to rally supplies for those who in need. The club maintains two projects, created in the past two years, purposed to recycle plastic bags and reusable plastic. The club, seniors for the Waynesburg Senior Center, and local Leo Club create plarn, yarn made from plastic, which is then crafted into mats for homeless people. The reusable plastic is gathered and given to an outdoor furniture company called Trex, who reuses the plastic for building materials.
“If you can recycle 500 pounds or more, if you have registered with them and gotten this project okayed, they will give you a free bench for the community. That is where the two benches came from in Hooper Park,” Eleanor says.
Another contribution to the community are eyeglasses and funding for them. The Lions Club International Organization has recycle plants dedicated to mending and identifying eyeglasses which local clubs bring to them. The Waynesburg club gathers and accepts donations of eyeglasses, new and used. A member then transports the glasses to a plant, and then the plant distributes the eyeglasses to missions around the world.
“Helen Keller made us the knights of the blind,” Eleanor says. “We try to help with any type of research involved there. Eye research is a big thing in the Lions Club.”
On an international scale, the Lions International Club has a disaster relief fund that the Waynesburg club helps fund. Ignoring the obvious COVID-19 pandemic, there are always places who need such a fund, Eleanor explains. She said the Waynesburg club gathered $10,000 since when they started donating toward the fund two years ago. Part of their total is due to most of the members pledging $100.
“The Lions Club International Organization is asking all clubs to help get some donations for disaster relief because there are so many [disasters]. Right now, every time you turn around, there’s a disaster some place in the world,” Eleanor says. “Our organization is international. We try to help all countries, not just the United States, with disaster relief.”
While transforming the entire world, COVID-19 has also forced the club to restructure most of their events. Their annual Halloween Parade last year transformed, with the help of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce, to a reverse parade, where attenders drove their cars around the Greene County Fairgrounds to see socially distanced displays on the side.
“We’re not sure what it will be this year, that depends on what the COVID-19 restrictions are. We have in the past marched right through town… Obviously, this year, it could happen,” Eleanor says.
There are several other projects and for the community and to help the club fundraise money that are not mentioned in this article. To learn more about the ones listed above, learn how you can help, and become a Lions Club member, contact Eleanor Chapman at 724-998-6962 or techapman@windstream.net.
