By Susan DeRemer
Thanksgiving always kicks off a hectic season of parties, gift buying, volunteering and celebrating with friends and family.
This month the Lions celebrated Thanksgiving by helping the Culver City Lions Club serve Thanksgiving dinner to more than 150 seniors at the Culver City Senior Center. The Culver Lions have been hosting this event for 40 years, getting local vendors to either donate the food, such as the Sorrento Italian Market for the turkey; or sponsor items such as the pumpkin pies, green beans, yams, stuffing, cranberry sauce and rolls. It was the first time that the Santa Monica Lions participated and we had so much fun, it will become a yearly event. Even better some of our non-Lion friends joined us.
In December the Lions have four events where non-Lions are welcome to join us as we try to help out in the community.
Dec. 1 we are collecting pet food for PAWS/LA at the Best Western Gateway Hotel at 20th and Santa Monica Blvd. between Noon and 1:30 p.m. All dry and canned food for dogs and cats is welcome.
Dec. 11, as part of the Santa Monica Service Club Alliance, we are co-hosting the Santa Monica Community Boutique. This free event will be held at the Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club, 1210 4th Street, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Guests are invited to browse the more than 20 participating nonprofits and make tax-deductible donations. These donations make the perfect gift for business clients, people on your list that are hard to shop for, hostess gifts and others with who you want to share your passion. The free event will include music, hot apple cider and mimosas.
Dec. 16th we will be bell ringing the bell for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Day at the Bristol Farms in Santa Monica from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. You are welcome to help us ring for donations or stop by and make one.
Dec. 18 we will participate in the Viking Basket Packing at the Barker Hanger, 3021 Airport Ave, from 8 – 10:30 a.m. These baskets include a turkey and ALL of the fixings for a holiday meal. They are distributed to needy families.
Please consider joining the Lions as we celebrate the holiday season and give back to the people (and pets) that are so vital to our community. For more information or to help, contact Susan at SantaMonicaLion@gmail.com or (310) 442-9513.
Happy Holidays!
For more information about the Lions Club, visit www.facebook.com/smlions or http://e-clubhouse.org/sites/santamonica, call (310) 623-4499 or reach them at P.O. Box 3435, Santa Monica, CA 90408.
