Staff reports
The Beaufort Lions Club will hold their annual Water Festival Breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m., Saturday, July 13 at the Sea Island Presbyterian Church at 81 Lady’s Island Drive, Beaufort.
The breakfast will feature Jim Palmer’s creamy sausage gravy and freshly baked biscuits, freshly scrambled eggs, cheese grits, fluffy pancakes, juice, milk, and coffee.
Adult tickets may be purchased at the door for $12; under 12 tickets for $10; or online at https://beaufort-lions-club.square.site/. Major credit cards are accepted. Take-out is available.
Lions International is a nonprofit organization boasting 1.4 million members globally and targeting community issues such as vision, diabetes, childhood cancer, environment, and hunger. In 1926, Helen Keller told Lions, “I appeal to you Lion, you who have your sight, your hearing, you who are strong and brave and kind. Will you not constitute yourselves, knights of the blind, in this crusade against darkness?”
Funds raised by Beaufort Lions Club-sponsored events are distributed to support the Beaufort community through humanitarian, vision, and diabetes programs. Volunteers from The Beaufort Lions screened the vision and hearing of more than 6,200 public and private school students North of the Broad, ages 6 months old to high school during the 2023-24 school year. They also screen the vision of adults monthly at a free vision clinic and during the summer migrant program.
They provide healthy snacks to school nurses North of the Broad for students diagnosed with diabetes. They have donated school supplies for students and teachers, blankets to the oncology infusion units at both Beaufort Memorial and MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital; nonperishable food to both HELP of Beaufort and the Salvation Army food banks; activity books to seniors; a tree to a local church; and countless other small acts of kindness.
To provide additional specialized resources to the community, the club also donates to national/international nonprofits:
- Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester Hills, Mich. Legally blind individuals at least 16 years old are eligible for the program. They are provided free transportation to and from a client’s home to the Leader Dog campus and free accommodation and meals while training. The cost to house and train a Leader Dog is more than $60,000.
- Camp Leo is a week-long camp for visually impaired children ages 7 to 17 from across South Carolina. The camp is held at St. Andrews by the Sea on Hilton Head Island and is free to families. Transportation is provided and campers participate in beach activities, arts and crafts, kayaking, visiting a petting zoo and airport, playing miniature golf, etc.
- MUSC Storm Eye Research Institute located in Charleston conducts research on vision-related conditions such as retina and cornea conditions, and glaucoma. They also offer cataract surgery, LASIK, and pediatric eye care. Research conducted at Storm Eye improves the quality of life for visually impaired individuals globally.
- The South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind in Spartanburg offers both on-campus and remote education to public school students with visual or hearing impairments.
- Lions Vision Services in Columbia ensures that individuals without vision insurance receive proper treatment for vision-related issues such as detached retina and cataract surgeries. LVS also sponsors the annual state blind fishing tournament in Santee. Blind individuals across the state are transported to and from their homes, provided with free accommodations and meals, and a day of fishing from a boat or the bank. Winners of this competition are then transported to NC in October to compete in the National Blind Fishing Competition.
- Lions Clubs International Foundation is a global disaster relief resource. The foundation has partnered with the Carter Center to combat river blindness in Africa and Latin America. In 2016 after Hurricane Matthew, a recovery effort grant was sent to Hilton Head Island and recovery effort grants have been provided to the Myrtle Beach area several times.
Supporting the local Beaufort Lions Club through fundraisers such as this breakfast has a global impact. Start your Saturday, Water Festival Day of Activities with a family breakfast at Sea Island Presbyterian Church. Reminder – Lions still sell brooms. One can be purchased at the breakfast or by calling 843-522-0066 and ask for Pat.
