Mission ready
Five North Dundas Leos will be travelling to St. Kitts for a mission trip. Until then, the Leos will be collecting donations from the community to help aid their efforts. From left, in the front row are Madison Giles and Jackson McMillan; second row, Martine Payne and Alix Giles; third row, Léanne Matamoros and Rosie Backes; and fourth row, Ben Weber and Amanda Shay. Courtesy Backes photo
Roxanne Backes
Special to the Record
CHESTERVILLE – The North Dundas Leos are going on a mission trip to St. Kitts from April 28 to May 5. A trip such as this has been circulating as an idea for some time and last year an opportunity presented itself. In the 17 years of the Leos, there has never been a trip like this.
Lions Nancy and Bob Tapping from the Mountain and District Lions Club travelled to St. Kitts last year. While there they met for lunch with President Adora Préville-Warner of the St. Kitts and Nevis Lions Club. During their conversation, Préville-Warner had shared some of the needs of her community and an interest in the eye testing that the local Lions have been doing.
This led to the Mountain and District Lions twinning with the St. Kitts and Nevis Lions, whereby they help one another. This past fall approximately 1,300 lb of clothes were sent to St. Kitts. Now the Leos are working to help them as well.
Although St. Kitts did not get hit by the hurricanes like other islands, they are trying to help their sister islands, Barbuda being one of them. Some of the people of Barbuda have come to stay in St. Kitts since their island has been severely damaged.
Since last July, the Leos have been fundraising with canteens, a bottle drive, a paint night, and a raffle. This money is to help to offset a portion of the cost of their trip. On Feb. 24 from 4-6:30 p.m. at the Winchester Lions Hall, the Leos will be having a chili supper for their mission trip.
There are local Lions who have shown support for the trip and have made donations. This money will help to ship supplies to St. Kitts, purchase any school supplies and personal hygiene items, help with taxi fees, as well as to purchase some new library books. They were even given a donation from the Prince George Spruce City Lions Club in British Columbia who heard of the trip when in Ottawa for a curling bonspiel.
On this trip, there will be five Leos (ages 12-16) and seven adults. They are excited to go to see the results of their work, but the Leos who are unable to go are equally excited about running a collection campaign in their schools knowing the impact this will make.
While in St. Kitts, the Leos will be visiting two schools to deliver school supplies and new library books. They will spend some of the day reading and working with the students. They will also spend the day at a seniors’ residence with the St. Kitts Lions.
They are planning on helping to train others on how to use the eye testing kits. Although they will be staying at a resort, they will have the extra responsibility of kitchen duty, as they are making their own meals while there.
From Feb. 12 to 28, the Leos will be running a campaign to collect school supplies and personal hygiene items. They are running collection drives at their schools and for members of the community there are several drop-off sights.
In Chesterville, people can drop off their donations at Flair with Fabrics and Chesterville Pharmachoice. In Winchester, people can go to the Lions Thrift Store or Main Street Styling to make their donation.
Items needed for the schools are: lined paper, duo-tangs, pencils, pens, white out, erasers, pencil sharpeners, pencil cases, pencil crayons, rulers, highlighters, markers and books: new or gently used books for students, kindergarten to Grade 8.
Items needed for the seniors’ residence are: deodorant, nail polish remover, razors, cotton pads, shaving cream, puzzle books, tooth brushes, tooth paste, dental floss, brushes, hand cream, shampoo, conditioner, hair pins and nail polish.
For more information or for questions, contact Julie Padbury at 613-441-2013 or Roxanne Backes at 613-448-1825.
