Leo Club Provides Opportunity To Help Community Members

By BENJAMIN LEWIS
COOPERSTOWN

The Cooperstown Leo Club is a student-run nonprofit organization affiliated with the international Lions Club. The Lions Club was established in Chicago in 1917 with an original focus on helping business clubs become more involved in their communities. After World War I, the club expanded to include philanthropy. The Leo Club was established in 1957, centered around youth service. Both the Lions and Leo clubs expanded across the country and the world, forming an international service network that spans 200 countries, with 49,000 local chapters and close to 1.4 million active members.

The Cooperstown Leo Club was established in 2004. The service club has been a long-standing organization, with thriving student participation. Currently, the club has 39 student members. The Leo Club’s teacher adviser is John Brotherton, and the Lions Club adviser is Dr. Paul Weber.

The Cooperstown Leo Club is a charitable organization that consistently organizes events for the community. For example, the Cooperstown Food Pantry and the Leo Club partner on the Cooperstown BackPack Program, which allows participating students at both the elementary and high schools to anonymously pick up a backpack full of food for the weekend.

The annual pancake breakfast at the Cooperstown Veterans Club is another popular fundraiser for the Leo Club. Tickets to the breakfast are given to Leo Club members to sell. At the event, students in the club wait tables and serve all types of breakfast items. All proceeds go to the Cooperstown Lions Club to be used in support of various causes.

While the Leo Club hosts charitable events, requests for volunteer service around the community are just as important to its mission.

Dr. Paul Weber perfectly illustrates the organization’s philosophy: “We’re here. We want to help. What do you need?”

Raking leaves, garden-ing, shoveling snow and other tasks that may be arduous for senior citizens are the types of activities the club is willing to perform. The club encourages people to reach out if they need assistance, because community service is the backbone of the club, and its members strive to help.

Leo Club members are also given unique educational opportunities in addition to their community service, the most popular of which is a trip to the United Nations. The Lions Club International assisted in the formation of the United Nations charter. Each year, a Lions Day with the United Nations is held at the U.N. in New York City. The opportunity to visit the U.N. and meet students from other Leo Clubs builds enthusiasm and involvement for the group.

The Leo Club is an excellent opportunity for students to become involved in their community. The constant activities run and participated in by the Leo and Lions clubs provide students plenty of exposure to different service projects and an opportunity to contribute, and Lions Day at the U.N. is another interesting experience offered exclusively for Leo Club members.

New members are always welcome and can join starting in the seventh grade, as young students are encouraged to become involved early in their high-school career. Those interested in learning more about the Leo Club and its activities can contact John Brotherton at jbrotherton@cooperstowncs.org.