The Brighton Leos Club once again raised a significant amount of money for the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide program.
The Brighton Leos raised $5,011 for the Dog Guide program after 12 members of the club — all Grade 9 to 12 students at East Northumberland Secondary School — put together dog and cat gifts consisting of treats and toys in stockings or wrapped in cellophane and sold them in front of the Sobey’s store in Brighton prior to Christmas.
Zoe Parsonson, president of the local Leos who captained the club’s fundraising project, said she was proud of the efforts by the members to package and sell more than 400 pet gifts.
“We have a really great group of Leos have been really good in their participation in what they want to be doing. They know they like helping others, so everyone was eager to get this opportunity. By doing the stuff we do, like putting the dogs packets together and selling them at Sobeys, we know we’re going to be raising money and making a difference,” said Parsonson.
Parsonson — who was involved in her fourth fundraising campaign with the Leos for the Lion’s Dog Guide program — said the service club members were well-satisfied with the amount raised, despite the ongoing pandemic.
“We were very happy with it. We all agreed that it was a great amount to be donated. We did put in hard work putting everything together so it was awesome that it paid off money-wise,” said Parsonson, who believes it was the most successful campaign in her four years with the club.
Leo member and ENSS student Dwight DeGroot said belonging to the club has been an overall great experience. As for the fundraiser, he was inspired by how the community embraced the club’s fundraiser right from the start.
“It was good to get out and be able to help others and it was impressive how eager the community was willing to support us in what we do,” he said.
Parsonson said the Leo’s fundraising campaign also received a boost from several area businesses that agreed to sell the dog and cat gifts in their stores during the Christmas season.
Brighton Lion’s Club member Nancy Bahniuk, an advisor to the Brighton Leos Club, said the junior club’s fundraising campaign was a resounding success, and was so important for the continuation of the Lions’ long-standing Dog Guide program.
The program matches highly-trained dogs with those who are blind or visually impaired, the hearing impaired, children who have autism spectrum disorder, those who have a medical or physical disability, those with epilepsy, those with diabetes, and also as support dogs for agencies assisting individuals in traumatic situations.
“It costs $35,000 to raise, train and facilitate the partnering with the client, and yet the Lions never charge the client anything. So, fundraising like this is absolutely critical to the integrity of our program,” said Bahniuk, who’s been a member of the Brighton Lions Club since 2005.
Bahaniuk said the money raised each year by the Leo’s support a program affiliated with the dog guide program called the Adopt a Puppy program.
“It supports the first year of a dog guide,” she said, adding poodles, retrievers and labs are generally chosen as puppies to be dog guides.
Bahaniuk acknowledged the support of Lovems Pet Food and Sobeys each year, as well as Best Friends Doggy Daycare in Colborne and Pure Hair Salon in Brighton, which sold the pet gifts on behalf of the Leos and Lions.
“Everybody sort of chips in. It’s a wonderful community we live in,” said Bahaniuk. “We’re very blessed, the community is so supportive of us every year.”
Bahaniuk said the Leo club has been an integral junior club to the main Lion’s Club in the Brighton. In addition to the Christmas pet gifts fundraiser, the Leos have typically helped out with Lions Bingo nights in Brighton, as well as running the canteen on bingo nights and also helped at the Lions’ food booth at the Codrington Farmers Market. They’ve also helped the Lions with the Brighton Hamper Program that involve all the area service clubs at Christmas.
“I just think we’ve been stressing teamwork and responsibility and helping the community and they’ve stepped forward,” said Bahaniuk of the Leo club members. “These kids have had a banner year. They overwhelm me. I’m such a believer in these young kids. They have such amazing abilities.”
