It has been a busy summer for the North Haven Lions Club as it continued to give back to the community in a variety of ways, including its ongoing Second Saturday Service Project, cleaning up a local park, sponsoring blood drives, and more. The club also recently installed its 2021-’22 officers, inducted new members, and held a special presentation for a middle school teacher who supported the club’s International Peace Poster Contest for years.

Ed Cohen was reinstalled as president of the Lions Club. He has served as president of the North Haven Lions for two years ever since moving back to Connecticut from California where he was a Lion for the 12 years he lived there. He first joined the Lions prior to that in New Britain.

In addition to Cohen, other board members installed at the July meeting include Alan Sturtz as treasurer, June Sturtz as secretary, Al Papson and Norm Juniewic as member coordinators, and Marie-Ann Barnhardt as the Lions Club International chair.

“It’s wonderful to get back together, though we have been dogged about keeping the events going throughout COVID,” said Cohen. “We didn’t drop a beat and we’ve done collections. The town is wonderful and so generous.”

The North Haven Lions Club has been serving the community since 1952 and is part of Lions Clubs International (LCI), the world’s largest humanitarian service organization with 1.4 million members worldwide. LCI focuses on causes such as hunger, vision, the environment, childhood cancer, and diabetes awareness. The North Haven Lions Club supports these causes and more in many ways, including its Second Saturday Service Project.

The Second Saturday Service Project serves as a collection to help restock the food bank focused on fighting hunger as on Aug. 14, the North Haven Lions returned to the North Haven Congregational to restock the food banks.

“We have a great core group of people who come back every month to support us,” said Cohen.

While the August event has passed, food donations are accepted from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the church Monday through Friday. Any non-perishables are welcome, but the following items are staples: canned meals, canned tuna and other meats, canned broth, canned fruit, canned tomato sauce, peanut butter, jelly, mayonnaise, gravy, rice, cake and brownie mix, cereal, pasta, pasta sauce, rice, beans, Parmalat milk, juice, coffee, and tea.

The pantry is open to any resident in North Haven that asks for food with distributions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 to 11 a.m. by appointment, which can be reserved online at northhavenucc.org/food-pantry. People are eligible to come once every 30 days to pick up two bags of non-perishable food.

The next Second Saturday Service Project will be held on Saturday, Sept. 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the North Haven Congregational Church. The Lions not only collect is always food, but eyeglasses, pet food, and pet supplies to benefit other causes the Lions support.

The Lions Club recycles and repurposes eyeglasses that are no longer needed in its Lions Recycle for Sight Program to benefit the millions of people living in low- and middle-income countries who lack access to basic eye care services.

“We collect the glasses and truck them to a Lions’ site in New Jersey where they sort and clean them, test for the prescription, mark and package them, and ship them to third-world countries,” said Cohen. “A lot people benefit from that.”

For six decades, the Lions Club have also supported the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, which trains and provides guide dogs to clients where they live and work. COVID forced the closing of the breeding centers to the public, but the puppies keep coming. Donations of blankets, towels, and Milk Bone (a Fidelco-approved brand) dog biscuits of any size are being accepted. Donations are also shared with the Animal Haven so donations of cat food are also accepted. For information on Fidelco, visit fidelco.org.

The Lions partner with the elementary schools in North Haven, testing all students’ eyesight. Cohen also replicated the Catch a Rising Star program that the Lions in California hosted. The program recognizes students’ achievements, awarding them with a certificate and a $50 prize. The North Haven Lions Club is also starting a Leo’s Club, which will give teenagers control over their own club and activities.

“We pay expenses as a club,” said Cohen. “Historically, kids involved in Leos become Lions when they get older. They’re creating community service opportunities for themselves, which they need for school, so it’s a win-win for them.”

The Lions are also preparing for several upcoming fundraisers, including a comedy night, which will be held in October and the third annual Shred Day.

The Lions, with ProShred Shredding Services, will offer shredding services for $10 a box (copy paper size) so people can shred old documents, bank statements, medical records, tax forms, and more. No appointment is necessary and people can stay until the documents enter the shredding truck. Business and bulk rates are available. For information, call Norm Juniewic at 203-606-4151.

Shred Day will be held on Saturday, Sept. 18 from 9 a.m. to noon at Premier Car Wash, 384 State Street, North Haven to benefit the North Haven Community Emergency Response Team and other charitable efforts of the North Haven Lions.

“He kindly offered his facilities so it’ll make it much less chaotic,” said Cohen. “This is an even better facility and people can see the car wash and auto service bays. It’s a neat setup.”

Cohen encourages anyone interested in learning more about the North Haven Lions Club to attend a meeting. The Lions Club meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. at Mickeys in Hamden.

“Everyone is welcome to come to one of our meetings to see what we do and who we are,” said Cohen. “We have a really good relationship with the town and we’re striving to make it better. The more members we get, the better we get.”

For information, email northhavenctlions@gmail.com or like North Haven Lions on Facebook.