By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On June 28, the Burlington Lions Club hosted the “Burlington Backyard Bash” in the parking lot of the Burlington Lions’ headquarters at 471 Pearl St.
The event featured a bouncy castle, face-painting, and an ice cream truck, as well as booths from several local Burlington organizations and businesses.
Sweet Nutrionista, Woodview Mental Health and Autism Services, Pepper and Thyme, JupCakes, and FeedHalton, among others, were all set up on the perimeter of the parking lot. The Lions themselves set up a stand with hot dogs for sale.
The event was the result of a collaboration between Daryl Fowler, owner of Flashe Gas and a Burlington Lion, and Andrea Florian, local realtor and incoming vice president of the Burlington Lions, with the aim of collecting donations for local food insecurity programs.
Olivia Duke, incoming Burlington Lions Club president and candidate for Ward 4 councillor, explained that both were hosting separate food drive events before they were combined.
“They came together because they realized that Robin Bailey [executive director of FeedHalton] mentioned that this could be an amazing, much bigger event than what they were currently doing on their own,” Duke said. “And so they joined forces and we, as the Lions, were very proud to provide them with the space to execute an even bigger party.”
Duke spoke about the incoming all-female leadership at the Burlington Lions.
“It’s a huge thing for us,” Duke said. “I don’t think women were allowed to join the Lions until the ’90s, if you can believe it. And we’ve been here for 101 years. So a lot of positive changes have been happening.”
Duke said that the group has been diversifying its membership and said that about half of its members are now women.
Dressed as Woody from Toy Story, Ward 5 councillor and incumbent in this year’s election Paul Sharman said that it was Florian and Duke who came up with the idea to dress up in costumes to entertain the children in attendance.
“Ever since the number of women in the Lions has grown to the highest in its history, suddenly we had a much more creative environment,” Sharman said.
Sharman also noted that the Lions recently received a $25,000 grant from the federal government as part of the New Horizons for Seniors program.
“We provided that funding to the Community Development Halton group to do a consulting engagement for us on building a volunteer program,” Sharman said. “It would help people work within that and assign them projects and jobs to do. We want to build a sustainable soft volunteer program that will last us forever.”
Sharman said that he hopes the program will bring in a whole new group of Lions.
“Once we get that set up, we will have something that is unique in the world of Lions,” he said. “Hopefully, we can then replicate that across the country.”
Before the raffle draw capped off the afternoon, Duke addressed the crowd in the Lions’ hall.
“While today is certainly about kicking off summer and enjoying a fun afternoon together, it’s also about remembering that the need in our food banks doesn’t take the summer off,” Duke said. “In fact, donations often decline during these months, even though the need remains just as great. Every hot dog or empanada you’ve purchased, every raffle ticket you’ve bought, and every local vendor you’ve supported today is helping give back to our community through FeedHalton and the Burlington Food Bank.”
