The Garden Ridge Lions Club Charities has been conducting an annual fundraising activity for its charity contributions since 1973.   We have the event in the Garden Ridge Community Center and its open to the general public.  There is no admission charge.   The event consists of selling beverages, Fish Fry plate or BBQ plate.   It also has a raffle, silent auction, and live auction event.    This year I would like to have charitable organizations we donate to setup tables to inform attendees about their charitable work.  This event is held once a year.  This year its going to be held on October 7th, 2023 from around 3pm to 8:30pm.    All of the proceeds pay for expenses such as food costs, rental of the center, purchase of drinks.  Our staff is strictly volunteers so no compensation is given to members of the club for their work on this event.   The proceeds are for charitable activities which we donate to during our fiscal year.

These charitable actiovites we donate to include:

1.   Leader Dogs for the Blind

2.   Elite Dog Training Academy for service dogs for diabetics who need monitoring constantly

3.   Operation Thanksgiving in which we pack up a Turkey Dinner meal and deliver it to around 52 needy families in our area identified by school counselors

4.   Operation Santa Claus in which we pack up a Ham Dinner meal and deliver it to around 52 needy families in our area identified by school counselors.   In addition, we dliever 2-3 gifts to children in

      these families up to 18 years of age.  In 2022, we gave gifts to 168 children.

5.  We have donated funds to the Wish for the Sky Brain Injury Foundation to assist peple who have children who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.

6.  We will be giving 10  $1,000 scholarships out to deserving seniors in local high schools.

7.   We will be donating funds to send 4 Boys and 3 Girls to the Texas American Legion Sate Programs in June 2023.

8.  We have contributed time, manpower, and funds for Texas Ramps to build access ramps for wheelchair bound citizens who need access in and out of their homes.

9.  We have contributed funds to keep our local park cleanup up and viable for use by the general public in the Garden Ridge City.  Over 50 years, we have or are palnning to donate over $30,000 to the

     city of Garden Ridge, Texas to keep the park a fun place for families to enjoy.  We built a concession stand and donated picnic tables to the park.  We have also cleared brush to provide walking trails

     for people to use.   We are in the process of donating funds to make the park more ADA compliant.

10.  We conduct vision and hearing testing for elementary students.   This allows our local schools to be in compliance with state requirements in this matter.  Our efforts take a big amount of the work

       away from school nurses.  In 2022, we tested approximately 6,000 students in our county.

11.  We provide funds to the Texas Lions Club Summer Camp in Kerrville, Texas so that diabled children can participate in a summer camp environment with qualified counselors on site.   We assist in

       the spring with cleaning,  landscaping, and painting operation to get the camp ready for summer.

12.  We are responsible for road cleanup activites on varioous section of Garden Ridge, Texas

13.  We work with local Boy Scout and Girl Scout groups with school festivals providing candy at Halloween and popcorn at other events.

14.   Due to our charitable activites and service to the community, we have been honored in the ways for our 50th anniversary:

        Registered in the February 9, 2023 Special Remarks in the U.S. House of Representative by our representative.  We also received a falg flown over the U.S. Capitol Building

        Received a Joint Texas House and Senate Resolution and Texas flag flow over the state capiotl in Austin, Texas.  We were honored in the Texas Senate on March 14, 2023 for our contributions.

        Received a Proclamation from our Mayor and City Council on March 1st for all we have done and had March 6th, 2023 declared Garden Ridge Lions Day by the Mayor.

        Received a Proclamtion from the Governor of Texas on March 6th concerning our 50 years of service to the community.