Community Spotlight: Rainier Lions Club

The Rainier Lions Club was established here in Rainier over 30 years ago. In that time they have been proud sponsors of the annual Bluegrass Festival, that was started by Art and Charlotte Runyon of Rainier.

The Lions have been a strong supporter of our Rainier Schools over those years with dictionaries to third graders and hearing & sight tests for our grade school students, as well as donations to our school band. They have a "Becky Waldron Scholarship" for high school seniors, as well as dinner for the top five graduating students each year.

They earned money to help our community through the sales of apples, peaches, pears, nectarines and grapefruit.  They also earned money with their annual corn feed and Lion burgers at Bluegrass.  

The Lions also started "Halloween in the Park", "Caroling for Cans" (supporting our food bank) and "Family Fun Day. They have built many wheel chair ramps and paid for cataract surgeries. They made donations to Leader Dogs for the Blind, Camp Leo (for children with diabetes), Thurston Hooved Animal Rescue, Hand of Hope, as well as many other important non-profit organizations. They have supplied eye glasses to people in our community and recycled glasses around the world.

Their members have cleaned trash from 507 here in town. They have made donations to our foodbank and Senior Center. They have been everywhere in Rainier over the years supporting Rainier in quiet but very important ways. They also were and still are the charter organization for Rainier Scouting. 

Very sadly the Rainier Lions Club will be holding its last meeting this month, here in Rainier. The club has been unable to recruit  sufficient membership to remain in good standing with the Lions International and will end its tenure here in Rainier. It is a tragic loss for Rainier but is a reminder how important volunteerism is to our community. Without volunteers many of the good things that go on in communities will not continue. 

The Rainier Lions Club epitomizes how important volunteerism is and what a handful of dedicated people can accomplish.