As many Lions and Lions Clubs have been sidelined of late and face the prospect of slowly and safely getting back in the game, we have been looking for solutions to stay involved. We appreciate that many Lions and Clubs due to age, health or membership would be hard pressed to participate at this time in any other way than a donation.

The Canadian Lions 2020 project is to encourage local community projects as part of our centennial celebrations. People everywhere in our communities need help and that is our priority as Lions. Many are helping with meals and PPE where they can and LCI has provided grants for many such projects.

One of the other initiatives supported by PIP Judge Brian Stevenson is to plant 100,000 trees across Canada. While many of us cannot get out and roll up our sleeves right now or for the foreseeable future there are opportunities to participate.

One such initiative is the One Tree Planted project, which is international in its scope and has many areas in Canada identified as part of their plan.

While this group is based in Vermont, the founder and Canadian Office are in Montreal. For $1.00 US or $1.41 CDN, 1 tree will be planted. Their administrative costs are included in the $1.00 but are about 20%. They hope to have Canadian charitable status for tax receipts sometime this year. There will be volunteer opportunities to physically plant trees, but this is a “wait and see when” situation right now.

The world is in a bad place just now, but we will get through this together; we have before, and we will again. Perhaps we will learn to better take care of ourselves and our planet.

LCI have very generously provided funding for our Centennial Projects. Please see the attached brochure for details.

For more information, please contact Ray Charbonneau   .