We Serve! Newtown Lions Club and our affiliated Leo program for high school youth are part of Lions Clubs International (LCI), the largest service organization in the world with over 1.4M members in 200 countries and regions worldwide. As Lions and Leos, we serve to see our communities inspired, equipped, and transformed. We believe kindness and leading by example matter. And we’re proud to make a difference in our backyards and around the globe while building friendships and leadership skills. We welcome all adults to work with us on service projects, join us for a meeting on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday evenings monthly, or inquire about membership.

What We Do

Many of our local service projects align with LCI’s global focus on five areas of need:  Diabetes, Vision, Hunger, Environment, and Childhood Cancer. Our ongoing local service projects include:

• pre-K - 5 school vision screening
• used eyeglass collection
• diabetes awareness program developed with Kevin’s Community Center
• food drives for local food banks
• blood drive staffing
• home repair with Homefront
• Orchard Hill Nature Preserve maintenance
• Lose the Litter road and public space cleanup
• Main Street summer flag maintenance

During the pandemic the Lions partnered with other agencies to deliver groceries, provide support to isolated seniors, and help local restaurants feed struggling families. Where there’s a need, there’s a Lion.

In addition to hands-on service projects, the Newtown Lions raise funds to help support multiple local, regional, and global programs. Through our Lions District, we support the Connecticut Eye Research Foundation, guide dogs for the blind, the Lions Low Vision Center, the Connecticut Lions Speech and Hearing Centers and the Research Center for Macular Degeneration at Yale University among others. Our annual Newtown Lions Mustang Raffle and Great Pootatuck Duck Race Raffle have become anticipated Newtown traditions, the latter serving as a community festival as well as an important fundraiser. The local agencies we help fund reflect local needs, such as the Sandy Hook Elementary Fund for those affected by the 12/14 tragedy, Therapy Dogs, assistance for families affected by autism, Meals on Wheels and many more.

Recently a Newtown Lion realized the need for adaptive playground equipment to allow children in wheelchairs to play alongside other children. In just over a year, the Lions rallied residents and local businesses and joined forces with the Town of Newtown and Parks and Recreation to raise the needed $170,000. A grand Grand Opening on June 4, 2022, celebrated this great new Newtown feature at Dickinson Memorial Park.

If the past 100 years have taught us anything, it’s that as we serve, we grow. And we were never meant to stop. Service is our journey. Let’s explore it together.