Lions’ eyeglass collection boxes are placed throughout the community. Eyeglasses which are collected are sent to a Lion’s facility for repair & classification and are then used to support vision programs for needy people. This is also done with hearing aids.

DID YOU KNOW WE ALSO COLLECTNON-PERSCRIPTION SUNGLASSESTOO!

Some of our Lions do not know where the collection boxes are for used eyeglasses. And that used hearing aids are also needed.

Central Whidbey Lions has a collection box at the Coupeville Post Office (it’s with the newspaper racks on the front porch. And they have a collection box at Care-age (Street leading past the Catholic Church).

Coupeville Lions have a box at Whidbey General Hospital , and The Whidbey Eye Care Center (street behind Wells Fargo Bank.)

North Whidbey Lions and Oak Harbor Lions have boxes in Oak Harbor: CPO Club, Whidbey Medical Center, and O.H. P.O.

Thanks to all Lions bringing in used eye glasses andpop top tabs. The pop top tabs are pure aluminum and bring funds to Camp Horizon.

Alexander Blockhouse(re-roof), Davis Blockhouse(logs replaced),Boyer Barn(re-roof x2) ,KienthWatertower (structural repair/siding), Ferry House(front porch), Crockett Blockhouse(logs replaced),Carriage House(straighten/structural), Coupeville Wharf(repair/preserve south wall), Holbrook Barn(re-roof)…next…..is…

he equipment we have are walkers, wheelchairs, crutches,canes, shower benches, bedside commodes, hospital beds,& seat extenders.

We do not charge for loaning medical equipment, however we doaccept donations.It should be stressed that availability varies, but we try!

PleaseCall us at 678-4105

We Serve!

…WE ALSO ACCEPT DONATION OF GOOD, USED MEDICAL EQUIPMENT.

(Storage of Medical Equipment Provided byCoupeville Storage(360) 678-3324 180 SW Terry Rd, Coupeville, WA)

Lions meet at the Cam Bey Apartments to assist in baging and distributing government surplus commodities. Meet at 9:30 (with VEST).

We bag and deliver to clients at Cam Bey and then some Lions deliver to clients homes in Coupeville.

Help Instructions

  1. Start searching for a free hearing aid by discussing the matter with a healthcare professional. A doctor’s diagnosis is necessary to qualify for hearing aid assistance, and healthcare professionals are some of the best sources for assistance information.
  2. Contact the Lions Club International. The Lions club provides assistance for hearing loss sufferers who cannot afford the proper care. Many chapters of the Lions Club have hearing aid banks for people in need.
  3. Contact the Coupeville Lions Club Progam Chair for further assistance.

Hearing Loss Services:Lions clubs often provide communications aids for deaf and hard of hearing persons in the community. These aids include:

  • sign language
  • hearing devices
  • hearing dogs

The Lions Club’s International Hearing Aid Bank Program (HARP)

Objectives :

  • To establish an international hearing aid recycling program to promote the collection, refurbishing and distribution of donated hearing aids.
  • To provide clubs with a means of providing hearing aid assistance at an affordable cost.
  • To promote communication among Lions who collect used hearing aids.
  • To closely identify Lions with hearing aid recycling and distribution.
  • To facilitate the international expansion of the Lions Clubs International Hearing Aid Recycling Program.

For more information about this program and additional hearing information, contact the Program Development Department at Lions Clubs International Headquarters:r visit the website for a program near you:

Are you a “Walker”?– A road walker for exercise or just to be walking? Do you also pick up litter along your walks?Prior to 1981 our Lions decided to adopt sections of the roads they walk and to pick up litter, helping to keep our island beautiful. The Members adopted over 26 miles of County roads. Credit is given as make-ups for missed meetings if needed, and also credit is given to our Club as a service project.Mid-1992, the State approved the Coupeville Lions’ plan to adopt State Highway 20 for a two-mile stretch beginning one mile to the East and one mile to the West of Main Street. Signs have been erected at each end to announce CLC’s adoption. The requirement to keep these signs in place is to do a “pick-up” at least twice a year. It is good advertisement of good will, with service credit for our Club and Members.State does require the wearing of “hard hats” and distinctive colored vests. Permission has been granted to allow the wearing of our Lions vests while picking up litter. We are also required to report the number of trash bags used (provided by the State/County) and the time involved.Remember to report your cleanup time for County and State roadsides on our attendance sheets. If you have not adopted a County Road, please consider doing so wherever you do your walking, and report your adoption to the Roadside Chair Rod Barnes.

We meetin front of the School Superintendent’s office, HWY 20 & Main St. (parking lot). We will not need as many litter pickeruppers this time. Someone did the litter pickup on the east side of the overpass. The Coupeville Lions Club has been picking up litter along Highway 20 for the past 18 years on a section of highway 20 that is about one mile on either side of the overpass.

The Washington State Department of Transportation started the AdoptAHighway program during the late 1980s. In Washington, during 2009, 1,200 volunteer groups safely picked up 26,112 bags of litter, volunteering 21,000 hours. The Coupeville club averages about 45 bags per pickup and has over 20 Lions participating.

Most of the trash is paper and disposable objects which have blown off vehicles. There are also many items which have been jettisoned by those who do not care about our environment, beer cans, pop cans, dirty diapers, cigarettes, candy wrappers, soft drink containers and on and on. The Lions have picked up mattresses, pickup bed liners, sheet rock, building materials, cardboard, safety flags for long loads, lots of plastic bags, tires and mo re. The best find was a $50 bill and the worst find was a decayed deer.

We also do one/two Lions litter“patrols”on the roads in and around Coupeville on an ongoing basis.

Students of the Quarter/Year: Chair Lion Doug Kroon

The Coupeville Lions have been recognizing Students of the Quarter from Coupeville High School for over 35 years. Every quarter, all the teachers at the high school are asked to vote for one female and one male student who they believe best exemplifies the qualities of a well rounded student. They are asked to consider qualities such as good grades, participation in athletics, the arts or student government and community service. We are looking for good leaders, good role models and students with high integrity, excellent values and a good work ethic. Each quarter the winners, along with their families, come to a Lions meeting and give a short talk about their school years in Coupeville, experiences that have had a lasting effect on their development and their plans for the future.

These four programs are some of the best attended meetings as all of the Lions really enjoy getting to know these exceptional young people. The quarterly winners receive a plaque from the Club. At the end of the school year, the eight quarterly winners are again placed on a ballot and the high school teachers select two Students of the Year. These two winners are each presented with a $500 check at Senior Award Night.

Scholarship Awards: Program Chair Lion Bob Clay

Because the Coupeville Lions Scholarship Dinner and Auction is so generously supported by our community and is such a successful fundraiser, our Club is able to award between 20-26 Scholarships to Seniors from Coupeville High School each year. The Scholarships are generally between $500 and $1,500 each and the Club usually distributes around $24,000 each year. We award scholarships to students attending four-year universities as well as community colleges and trade schools. We have special scholarships for students studying education, the environment, the arts, business, and medicine.

The Scholarship Committee is made up of Coupeville Lions who evaluate the applications and recommend the winners and the amounts to be given. The scholarships are paid directly to the colleges.

Our Club sponsors Troop 4058 and encourages Lions to be involved in Troop activities. The Scouts assist our Club during our Garage Sale as well as our Annual Deception Pass Spring Clean-up.

The wood cutting program started in early December 2004 when the Central Whidbey Lions Club discontinued their program. It took until the first part of March 2005 to get the approval and the legal requirements all satisfied with Island County and the Solid Waste Facility just south of Coupeville.

The program was to cut and split the logs into firewood that the County acquired from storms, roadside clearing or whatever, and distribute the wood to needy individuals or families. The program was perceived as a needed service to the community. Referrals were obtained from Gifts from the Heart, Readiness to Learn Foundations, commiserate people, and specific requests.

The program started slow with haphazard scheduling, splitting by hand and with few people. We eventually obtained usage of Lion Ed Chupat’s splitter, which required the cylinder to be resealed and not used after his death. Lion Bob Johnson volunteered his splitter, which we are still using today. (Thanks, Bob). Lion Mel Rogers advertised for a chain saw donation. (the donor is my neighbor who donated her late husband’s chain saw.) Mel keeps this saw in running order.

Our crew now runs between five and six at the nearly regular cutting parties on the Tuesdays following the official Board of Directors meeting. Faithful Lions cutting up include Fred Bronson, Dick Eisenbray, Warren Ivy, Dale Riddle, Mel Rogers, Bill Roberts and John Roomes.

Approximately twenty Lions have helped provide the firewood over our history of the program using their own tools in the woodcutting program. About twenty cords have been cut to date and delivered to twenty people in various amounts.

We have also sold wood to Lions and other individuals to provide funds for our scholarship auctions and other philanthropic efforts.

Thanks again, Lion Don.

From Our Woodcutters,

I would like to thank and commend to everyone the excellent wood cutting crew who have spent so much time and effort this past year in providing a supply of wood for distribution to those in need.

The normal cutting party is made up of four to six Lions, with some help from volunteer “civilians”. Some bring appropriate tools or equipment and remember that some of the equipment (chainsaws in particular) takes considerable time to keep in operating condition. Lion Bob Johnson has been very kind in letting us use his splitter.

Thanks toLionMel Rogers, a couple of chain saws have been donated for our use.

We cut wood as announced (weather permitting).

The Coupeville Lions sponsor the Health Screening Van visit and volunteer to test our school children for possible sight and hearing problems. Thevan visits Coupevilleyearly.

Lions of Multiple District 19 and the Northwest Lions Foundation received high public praise for our sight and hearing service recently when the popular television showKing 5 Evening Magazinecovered the debut of our new Lions Health Screening Unit.

A Nielsen-estimated 61,000 viewers tuned in as host Meeghan Black and crew covered the unit’s debut at Shoreline Christian School on Friday, March 11, 2011. Meeghan’s report includes an interview withRed and Beverly Bingham, who donated the brand new Kenworth tractor that pulls the new trailer in style. The broadcast also includes kind words from Meeghan and Evening Magazine for the Lions volunteers who staff the LHSU at schools throughout Washington and Northern Idaho.

The 62-foot-long, medically-equipped Lions Health Screening Unit (LHSU) travels throughout Washington and Northern Idaho to give free health screenings at schools, fairs, and other public events. Checking for glaucoma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and sight and hearing loss is key to interventions in potentially life-threatening health problems.

This year, the Lions Health Screening Unit will provide free screening for an estimated 30,000 patients, the vast majority of whom will be children. The Foundation’s annual cost to operate the Lions Health Screening Unit is more than $170,000. As more and more children and adults come to depend on these screenings, we would greatly appreciateyour financial support.

HELP WANTED–The Meals-On-Wheels team needs one or two more relief drivers. There are times when a regular driver cannot deliver and other drivers are committed elsewhere, are incapacitated or on vacation. The time committed is 2 to 2.5 hrs. and starts at 11:00 am on a Monday, Tuesday, or Friday. There is compensation for gasoline expense.

If you think you can help, contact Lions Von Sumers, John Roomes or any of the other regular drivers. They will take you on their route to show you what is involved in meal delivery.– Lion John Roomes

This program delivers meals to folks in our community who are unable to cook or shop for themselves. These community members are especially vulnerable since they may not have friends and family in the area to help them, and our Lion members are an important social contact for them as well. The Coupeville Lions have been delivering Meals on Wheels for over 25 years! Von Summers, John Roomes, and Dennis Bullock have co-chaired this program forever, and they have a dedicated group of drivers: Jim Colligan, Karen Fletcher, Don Richardson, Gary Parker, Noel Hanson, Warren Ivy, and Karen Ekberg. They are always looking for substitute drivers. Ride along with them, and see if you want to be a substitute driver.

Presently, they pick up the prepared meals from Sheri, Cambey Apartment Kitchen (Senior Services). The MOW are delivered throughout Coupeville to Greenbank to eighteen clients.

Now you know about the what, when, where, why and how.

BUT there is much more to this program for the six Lions doing MOW called rewarding moments.

Following is Jim Colligan’s most rewarding memory.“The people I deliver to have consistently been the most rewarding part of the whole thing. There was one particular person that, to me, has been the most memorable and rewarding experience. Her name was Katherine (Kay) Arnswaldt. She was on the route for about five years. The first time I delivered to her she told me that she knew more people up in Sunnyside Cemetery than she did in Coupeville. I soon learned that her maiden name was Clark. Mickey Clark (still living at the time) was her big brother. Mickey and his older brother Tom were two of the charter members of the Coupeville Lions. Kay liked to talk and was so interesting that it was difficult for me to get past her place in less than twenty or thirty minutes. She was particularly proud of a baseball team that her brothers used to play on. She showed me a lot of pictures of them. Incidentally, there is a photo of that team on the wall at Whidbey Island Bank to this day.”“Kay liked to tell stories about growing up on Whidbey Island. When she was a little girl the local farmers used to get together at harvest time and go from farm to farm harvesting the crops. Their wives would join together to cook big meals for the harvesters. Kay said she learned to cook when she accompanied her mother. She said she liked to cook but wasn’t able any more, hence the meals on wheels. I’m sure her own cooking was much better than what I brought her, but she was always thankful; never a word of complaint.” “The last time I saw Kay was just a few days before she died. I hadn’t seen her for three or four weeks. She was still getting MOW but was bedridden so I didn’t see her. One day I asked how she was doing and, I think it was her granddaughter, invited me in to see her. Kay told me she was in a lot of pain and just wanted to die. Even then she wasn’t complaining. I think she just wanted to be with all those people she knew in Sunnyside. I was able to tell her how much I enjoyed knowing her and that I would miss her. I also told her it was OK for her to let herself go. She said she was trying. Within a few days she was gone but I still think of her often.” “Karen, sorry to go on for so long but she really was a very special lady.”

We collect donations throughout the year from community members for annual garage sale. Items are sorted & stored throughout the year in our “secret”barn. It requires aClub-wide effort to move merchandise to elementary school and conduct 2-day sale in Jun/Jul. This is Club’s largest annual fund raiser and supports our generalCoupeville Lions Foundation fund.