Fairfax Lions heard from a wonderful speaker at our Feb 4 dinner meeting – Rick Rigsby – by video presentation.

Rick builds on wisdom he acquired from his own dad…words like: “Son, you would rather be an hour early, than a minute late,” “Pride is the wisdom of a foolish person,” and “If you are going to do a job, do it right.”  Good words, reflecting the presentation theme – “The Wisdom of a Third Grade Dropout Will Change Your Life.”  You may watch the whole video presentation at:  https://www.rickrigsby.com/the-video

On February 1, 2020, five Fairfax Lions participated in our annual vision screening event at the Fairfax City Chocolate Lovers’ Festival.  We once again partnered with the Fairfax Kiwanis Club, on the 3rd floor of the main fire station. The Kiwanis Club served a delicious BBQ lunch, and the Lions Club checked peoples vision.  We screened 70 people and 39 of them (more than 50%) were children.  Several were teens helping the Kiwanis Club, and the rest with families…three of the children were pre-school (age 2-5).  A total of 12 (17% of total) were referred for follow-up exam with an eye doctor (2 of the 12 were children).  The Lions team enjoyed working with the Kiwanians again – both are wonderful service clubs – and we continue to look for ways to partner.  Those screened, once again, seemed amazed that we are able to provide this service and make it so easy and informative. The key is excellent screening equipment which we purchased with proceeds of past charity funds raisers – we thank our community for its support! WE SERVE.

The City of Fairfax has signs at different points entering the City, showing Service organizations. For example, the photo below was taken near Fair City Mall (opposite W. T. Woodson HS)…note the Fairfax Lions Club sign near the center!

The Inter-Service Club Council maintains these signs for the City.

Local Giant Food stores offer free fruit to children (age 12 and under). What a wonderful way to help youngsters choose healthy food. The Lions thank Giant Food for this wonderful effort.

On Dec 19th, Fairfax Lions presented holiday food baskets to deserving families in our community. The families were selected by Main Street Child Development Center in Fairfax City, and Lions Club members met the families at the Main Street Child Development Center facility. (Learn more about MSCDC at http://www.mainstreetcdc.org. )

It is both an honor and a pleasure to help families in our community, especially in the holiday season. The Lions motto is: WE SERVE!

On Dec 17, Lions Jim and Marty conducted a vision screening at Olam Tikvah Preschool.   The school is part of the Olam Tikvah Synagogue.   It’s always fun screening 2-4 year old children.  A total of 25 students were screened and 3 (12%) were referred to an eyeglass professional.  Ironically, all three had astigmatism.  When a referral is necessary, a complete SPOT report is printed for the school to use when informing parents.   The Lions used the Club’s SPOT portable screening equipment to conduct these vision screenings. The SPOT system is easy to use and accommodating when screening vision of young children, and produces accurate reports of an individual’s vision.