With the advent of spring, the Santa Monica Pacific Palisades Lions Club is growing and getting back to serving the community. It is hard to believe, but next year the SMPP Lions will celebrate a centennial of service on the Westside.
Our first post-Covid project will a booth at the Santa Monica Arts & Literacy Festival on Saturday, April 30th from 10 am – 2 pm at Virginia Avenue Park. The theme this year is Bugs, Bugs, Bugs! In accordance with the theme we hosting a booth for children, ages 4 and up, to create fun bug-related craft projects. We have all sorts of creative ideas to choose from, sure to appeal to any child. In addition to our crafts, other Santa Monica community members will have a bug tunnel, reading time, yummy kid-friendly food and so many more activities.
Lions are all about community, but also fun. The following weekend we are heading south to Playa del Rey to support a fellow Lions Club, the Venice Marina LAX Lions Club. It has become a yearly tradition and we are happy to join their fundraiser, eating great BBQ, playing bingo for cash prizes and laughing. It is on Saturday, May 7th at 5:30 pm and also includes a great raffle and silent auction. Contact Kingsley Fife from our Club to learn more about it - 310-454-2960.
Our scholarship committee met last week and started reviewing all of the applications from Santa Monica High School students hoping to continue their studies after graduation this year. The breadth of experiences, diversity of cultures and personal family stories are amazing. None of them were slowed down by the pandemic. They not only maintained their studies but found ways to continue serving the community while also supporting their families as they faced very challenging times. Choosing only two students for the Lions scholarships will be challenging with so many deserving students.
At our last meeting on April 13th, we were happy to induct Addie Lane as our newest Lion. She is full of energy and smiles, already jumping in to help at our booth at the Festival on April 30th. Also joining us that night was Bryan Kawaskai, a potential new member from Providence St. Johns Health Center. A new transplant to Santa Monica, he is really to happy to become part of the SM community with his family. If you want to learn more about the SMPP Lions by joining us as a dinner guest at our next meeting on May 11th at 6 pm, please contact Yoriko Fisher, at smpplionsclub@gmail.com or Kingsley Fife at 310-454-2960.
