Lions Continue to Serve During Pandemic “Project Sewing Warriors”

Every random act of kindness, positive interaction, and volunteer hour furthers the reality of peace on earth. ~ Unknown
Princeton Lions Club held their annual recognition ceremony for the graduating class of 2020 of South Brunswick Leo Club on June 26th, 2020. Due to the pandemic and constraints on in-person gatherings, this day was also utilized to recognize the participation of South Brunswick/ Princeton community members and Lions in Project Sewing Warriors. Lions Clubs International (LCI) is the world’s largest service organization with over 1.4 million members serving across the globe. The core service framework of Lions worldwide are Vision, Diabetes, Hunger, Environment, and Childhood Cancer. Lions Clubs work together globally to combat those specific issues. Leo Club is the youth arm of LCI, consisting of 130,000 members over 150 different countries. Leo Clubs support their parent organization and serve alongside them to combat these issues in their neighborhoods and communities. The core tenets of Lionism rests on their motto WE SERVE.
The Alpha Leos are the younger members of the association. The South Brunswick Leo Club is an active community service organization for younger members between the ages of 12-17 years. The club was founded in 2015 and since then they have been engaged and invested in serving this community with their participation in National Night Out, performance at the Senior Center, helping South Brunswick Food Pantry, South Brunswick Social Services Adopt-A-Family Program. Last year, they held their biggest fundraiser for Diabetes by organizing the LEO- 5K Run For Diabetes. The guest of honor for the evening was Councilwoman Archana Belu Grover alongwith District Governor Elect Lion Kevin Kosobucki, Past District Governor Lion Dawn Kosobucki and Ms. Cecilia Jackson, Program Director Youth Leadership Development Program. The club also recognized South Brunswick Public Library Director Chris Carbone for his unwavering support of this club since its inception. The Club Advisor Lion Bina Mehta in her speech expressed her gratitude for his allowance to use library premises and resources to help Leo Club members achieve their end goals. Leo Sarang Mohaniraj, Leo Archana Ramkumar, and Leo Ronit Thummaluru, all students of South Brunswick High School and long standing members of this club, were presented with Certificates of Appreciation along with gifts and hand made cards from their fellow Leos. The South Brunswick Leo Club board election results for the year 2020-21 were also announced and the new Leo board members installed by DGE Kevin Kosobucki.

The outbreak of COVID 19 could not slow down the Lions’ worldwide. Lions have been outfront assisting and serving their communities. Princeton Lions Club was no different. One random social media post by a community member gave birth to this movement in the Township of South Brunswick and Princeton. Project Sewing Warriors mission was to protect the most vulnerable and those who were on the frontline. PSW produced over 2500 handmade cloth masks over a period of 8 weeks and each one of them thus far have been distributed and donated. Please visit their Facebook page to read more about this project. Princeton Lions Club presented the sewing warriors with a certificate of appreciation for their hard work, skills and commitment to serve this community. The community members and Lions recognized on this day were Kimberly Donaldson, Deepa Nagpal, Thanh Buono, Manu Bhatnagar, Shubha Kamath, Lion Anila Mehta and Lion Dipti Dharia. The project was spearheaded by Princeton Lions Club President Lion Subarna Sahni.
Earlier in the month, Princeton Lions Club also made a donation of $1000 to Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center as part of a $10,000 frontline relief grant money received by Lions Clubs International District 16 J. District Governor Linda Banks made the presentation on behalf of the District to Ms. Danielle Oveido. Our foundation has approved 68 grants with a combined total of $844, 802 in the United States alone as part of our Covid 19 relief efforts across the nation. Lions Clubs International Foundation has thus far awarded 318 grants worldwide with a combined value totaling US $4,983,692.

Our mission: To empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through Lions clubs.
To join Princeton Lions Club or South Brunswick Leo Club send an email to princetonlionsboard@gmail.com.