Funds have been raised to help 50 eye cataract victims with free surgeries. This charitable move happened at the investiture of the charter president of Anthony Village Emerald Lions Club in Lagos.
The event which took place at the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, Lagos, drew Lions club members from other districts, family members, friends and corporate organisations as Mrs Chinyelu Samuel-Johnson was formally sworn in as the charter president.
The Emerald Lions (all-female members) Club is an offshoot of the Simon Lions Club. The charter presentation and investiture ceremony was conducted Immediate Past District Governor (District 404A1) Olatunbosun Okpeseyi, who, delivering the opening remark on behalf of Sir Monday Onyeme, the occasion’s chief host, Okpeseyi, informed that “What we are doing here is to tell the world that we can market kindness, and that the problem of the society cannot be solved by only established institutions of government.”
He declared further: “Service is a tool for social transformation, it is a culture we must all cultivate.”
In her acceptance speech, the charter president, Johnson, said: “I have always believed that what is worth doing is worth doing well. I had thought that my job as a banker would inhibit my effectively rendering the needed service. However, the urge to reach out to the less-privileged in the society, serve the poor, simply brought me to the realization that my profession should not be a barrier toil touching lives positively through service.”
According to her, becoming a full-fledged Lion has been a truly rewarding experience. The occasion was Hospital, Lagos, the donation of 200 hospital bed sheets to three general hospitals and settling medical bills of patients detained in hospitals for their inability to do so.
The club is also undertaking the construction of two modern toilets with a steady supply of water in a neighbourhood school and a downtrodden community in the neighbourhood. All these, in addition to Lions Club regular monthly activities of feeding the hungry, Reading Action programme and paediatric cancer enlightenment, amongst others.
The event concluded with the presentation of Lions’ pins and plaques to individual non-members in recognition of their association and valuable contribution to the Lions Club activities in recent years.