A house RESOLUTION

 

TO CONGRATULATE THE HARTSVILLE LIONS CLUB UPON THE OCCASION OF ITS EIGHTIETH ANNIVERSARY AND TO EXPRESS THE UTMOST GRATITUDE FOR ITS MANY YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF HARTSVILLE AND DARLINGTON COUNTY.

 

Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives are pleased to salute the Hartsville Lions Club, which has provided eighty continuous years of service in enhancing quality of life for the citizens of Hartsville and Darlington County; and

 

Whereas, the Hartsville club is a member of Lions Clubs International and South Carolina Lions, District 32-C. Lions Clubs International (LCI), founded in 1917 by Chicago business leader Melvin Jones, is dedicated to making the world a better place. The largest service organization in the world, LCI, with its almost 1.4 million members, has become the world leader in blindness prevention and works extensively in members' local communities to help those in need; and

 

Whereas, established in Hartsville on February 26, 1945, the Hartsville Lions Club, as part of living out its motto, "We Serve," has as its primary focus providing vision care to individuals who need assistance; and

 

Whereas, the club's primary hands-on service project involves eye screening for all Darlington County students each year. In 2023, the club received two grants that allowed the purchase of two eye-screening cameras. These cameras have made possible eye screening for more than thirteen thousand students since 2023; and

 

Whereas, further, over the past few years, the Hartsville Lions Club has provided eye exams and/or glasses to sixty-seven Hartsville residents and has donated generously to the Storm Eye Institute at MUSC in Charleston, as well as to South Carolina Lions Vision Services (eye surgeries), Leader Dogs for the Blind, Lions Clubs International Foundation, and Darlington County Recreation Department (youth sports); and

 

Whereas, the club also has helped fund local youth baseball sponsorships, Hartsville High School student scholarships, Hartsville High School Athletics (player meals), Trent Hill Children's Center in Hartsville (meals and Christmas gifts for the children), Hartsville Interfaith Ministries (food relief), South Carolina Lions Disaster Relief, Samaritan's Purse, Hartsville Fire Department Toy Drive, Christ City Home, and other charities; and

 

Whereas, to fund its activities and donations, the club holds an annual Vidalia onion sale, the most recent of which earned a profit of twelve thousand dollars; and

 

Whereas, to mark the organization's eightieth anniversary, the Hartsville Lions Club will hold a celebratory gathering on Thursday, February 27, 2025; and

 

Whereas, grateful for the committed service and outstanding contributions of the Hartsville Lions Club to the people of South Carolina, most particularly those of Hartsville and Darlington County, the House extends best wishes to the club in all its future endeavors as its members continue to serve. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, congratulate the Hartsville Lions Club upon the occasion of its eightieth anniversary and express the utmost gratitude for its many years of dedicated service to the citizens of Hartsville and Darlington County.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the Hartsville Lions Club.

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