TAMA-TOLEDO — For the past four years, the Tama-Toledo area has been without a Lions Club. But a small group of local volunteers are working to change that in 2024.

For many years the Lions Club in Tama-Toledo worked on a variety of projects in the community, such as providing eye exams and glasses to those in need, and providing KidSight eye screenings to pre-school age children in the community. The group also organized fundraisers that helped support the Tama and Toledo Libraries, the Wieting Theatre renovations and an annual scholarship, among several other local non-profit organizations and causes. But dwindling membership coupled with the challenges of the pandemic in 2020 saw the group unable to continue.

Now, with the help of club leaders in neighboring communities, a new base of volunteers are getting together to reform and recharter the Lions Club in the southern Tama County area.

On Friday, Dec. 8, the group will have an information table set up during the monthly fish fry held at the Tama Legion from 5-7 p.m. The following week the organizing group will also hold a New Member Get Together at the Tama Legion at 5:30 p.m. to introduce the Lions Club to new members and to chat about the group’s future vision and goals.

All community members are encouraged to visit with the new Lions Club organizers at upcoming December events or call 641-781-0743 for details or questions.

Lions Club membership is open to all adults over the age of 18 and is no longer a mens-only organization. Similar to other service organizations such as Kiwanis or the Rotary Club, the Lions Club’s primary goal is to serve and build the community. Lions Club is not affiliated with any religion or political party.

Past Lions Club Council Chair Judith Stone of Marshalltown is one of the leaders helping the group in Tama-Toledo as it explores rechartering.

Stone has been involved with the Lions Club for 20 years and said the benefits she’s experienced from being a member have been life-changing.

“Lions have educated me, honed my communication skills and made me a better person,” Stone said. “Being a Lions Club member has opened a world I never would have ventured into. The greatest joy I get from Lions is being able to visit all the clubs in our area and see the difference they have made in their communities.”

Should the Lions Club in Tama-Toledo gain enough members to reestablish a new charter, the group hopes to begin raising funds and planning service projects in 2024. Future meeting and event details will be announced as they become available.

Lions Club International, headquartered out of Oak Brook, Ill., boasts roughly 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members in more than 200 countries and geographic areas around the world. There are a number of Lions Clubs in communities surrounding Tama-Toledo including Gladbrook, Garwin, Traer, Dysart, Marshalltown, Montezuma, Reinbeck and Grinnell.