We Serve is the Lions motto. Here's what it means to the Albany & Troy Lions Club.
(Note: The Lions year runs from July 1 - June 30)
You can help by donating to the Albany & Troy Lions Charitable Fund

Between July 1, 2012 and April 30, 2013 the Albany & Troy Lions Club:

  • Collected 8000 pairs of used eyeglasses and 53 used hearing aids;
  • Provided eyeglasses for 7 children and 10 adults;
  • Helped NABA at 7 KidSight vision screenings; we tested 246 pre-schoolers and flagged 16 with potentially serious eye problems;
  • Purchased hearing aids for an elderly woman;
  • Purchased a special hearing-aid dehumidifier for a 10-year-old girl;
  • Provided cataract surgery for a 37-year-old man at the Lions Eye Institute;
  • Provided surgery to treat a pterygium in a 35-year-old woman at the Lions Eye Institute;
  • Held 4 work sessions at the Regional Food Bank;
  • Worked on Fox23News's Coats for Kids program; transported over 250 coats from various dry-cleaners to a central distribution point;
  • Sponsored 3 blood drives;
  • Served dinner twice to approximately 50 residents of Joseph's House;
  • Purchased clothes and other holiday gifts for a family of four;
  • 7 Lions helped load 6000 pairs of used shoes that will be distributed in Appalachia;
  • Donated to NABA, Barton Center for Diabetes Education, Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office for educational material on child safety, LCIF for Sandy relief, Tech Valley High School's plant-a-tree program, Lions Camp badger, Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership program, 

Between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012 the Albany & Troy Lions Club:

  • Collected 13,000 pairs of used eyeglasses and 223 used hearing aids. 
  • Provided eyeglasses for 6 children and 20 adults.
  • Held 4 work sessions at the Regional Food Bank.
  • Sponsored a blood drive in August that collected enough blood to help 111 people. One Lion donated blood, and eight Lions worked 45 man-hours
  • Sponsored a blood drive in December that collected enough blood to help 114 people. Two Lions donated blood, and seven Lions worked 44 man-hours.
  • Sponsored a blood drive in March that collected enough blood to help 63 people. Three Lions donated blood, and five Lions worked 40 man-hours.
  • Sponsored a blood drive in May that collected enough blood to help 90 people. Six Lions worked 40 man-hours.
  • Provided dinner for the residents of Joseph's House, a homeless shelter in Troy.
  • Provided hearing aids for an elderly resident of Troy.
  • Purchased holiday gifts for a family of four from Vanderheyden.
  • Five Lions helped load 9000 pairs of used shoes that will be distributed in Appalachia.
  • Provided a device that provides visual and vibratory signals so a deaf mother will know when her baby is crying.
  • Helped fund the replacement of a prosthetic eye for a student.
  • Participated in NABA's Low-Vision Technology Fair.
  • Provided stipends to one graduating senior from each of 14 area high schools.
  • Helped NABA at 3 KidSight vision screenings for pre-schoolers. We tested 57 kids and flagged 7 with potentially serious eye problems
  • Donated to Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Fight for Sight, NABA, American Council of the Blind, Schoharie County Flood Relief, Troy's Victorian Stroll, St Paul's Center, LCIF Measles Initiative, Lions Eye Bank, Sister Maureen Joyce Center, Joseph's House, Lions Camp Badger.

Between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011 the Albany & Troy Lions Club:

  • Collected 13,000 pairs of used eyeglasses and 173 used hearing aids. 

  • Provided eyeglasses for 47 children and 73 adults.

  • Held a School-Nurse Appreciation dinner at which we hosted 60 school nurses and provided an educational speaker.

  • Provided dinner for the residents of Joseph's House, a homeless shelter in Troy.

  • Conducted a vision and hearing screening at a local company. A Lions audiologist screened 24 employees and a Lions optometrist screened 20.

  • Sponsored a blood drive in December that collected enough blood to help 129 people. Two Lions donated blood, and 8 Lions worked 35 man-hours.

  • Five Lions helped load 9400 pairs of used shoes that will be distributed in Appalachia.

  • Held 3 work nights at the Regional Food Bank.

  • Sponsored a blood drive in August that collected enough blood to potentially save 234 lives. 7 Lions + 3 potential Lions worked 38 man-hours setting up appointments and at the drive; 2 Lions donated blood.

  • Helped with fund-raising for a Troy family that lost their home in a fire.

  • Spear-headed a district-wide drive to provide a posthumous Bronze Knight of the Blind award to Dr Tom Little.

  • Helped fund a 16-year-old deaf girl's attendance at a pre-college experience called "Explore Your Future."

  • Helped fund a hard-of-hearing 5th-grader's trip to a Lions Camp for the deaf in Brattleboro, VT.

  • Helped fund hearing aids for 4 people.

  • Provided scholarships to graduating senior from 14 area high schools.

  • Donated to Lions Clubs International Foundation; Sight Society of NENY (Lions Eye Bank); Regional Food Bank; Alight Care Center; Lions Eye Institute; Assoc for the Hearing Impaired; NABA; Visions Center on Blindness; Lions Hearing Conservation Society; ARC of Rens County; NYS & Bermuda Lions Foundation; Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership; Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

Between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010 the Albany & Troy Lions Club:

  • Collected 16,670 pairs of used eyeglasses and 85 used hearing aids. 

  • Provided eyeglasses for 34 children and 63 adults.

  • Presented the David B. Klingaman Citizenship Award (a small stipend) to 14 area high-school seniors

  • Donated funds to send two deaf 8th-grade girls on a special school trip.

  • Provided transportation for a student to attend training at Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester, MI.

  • Purchased hearing aids for two needy women.

  • Repaired a hearing aid for an elderly gentleman.

  • Participated in the "Shoes for the Shoeless" project that sent over 10,000 pairs of used shoes to Appalachia.

  • Provided funds to send a Rens County sophomore to the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership seminar.

  • Sponsored a blood drive in August that collected enough blood to help 174 hospital patients. 7 Lions worked 37 man-hours at the drive and 2 Lions donated blood.

  • Sponsored a blood drive in December that collected enough blood to help 138 hospital patients. 8 Lions worked 25 man-hours at the drive and 2 Lions donated blood.

  • Purchased clothes and food for a family of four during the holidays.

  • Contributed to a Troy family to help fund their sick child's visits to the Children's Hospital in Boston, and to another Troy family that lost their home in a fire.

  • Donated to the Sight Society/Lions Eye Bank; Guiding Eyes for the Blind; Capital District Chapter of the American Council of the Blind; NABA; Fabulous Friends with Flying Fingers (a youth group that sings and performs in sign language); Lions Clubs International Foundation; Camp Scully; Lions' Camp Badger; Alzheimer's Association; Visions Center for Blindness; Regional Food Bank.

Between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009, the Albany & Troy Lions Club:

  • Collected 9200 pairs of used eyeglasses and 135 used hearing aids. 

  • Provided eyeglasses for 34 children and 48 adults.

  • Totally or partially funded hearing aids for a 9-year-old boy and three senior citizens.

  • Purchased contact lenses for a 5-year-old with cataracts in both eyes and for a woman with special needs.

  • Purchased prescription safety glasses for an 8-year-old boy to protect his one good eye.

  • Provided funds to help offset the cost an elderly woman's follow-up care for glaucoma surgery. 

  • Provided funds to send a Troy High sophomore to the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership seminar.

  • Donated a TTY machine to a hard-of-hearing woman. 

  • Helped a woman pay for medical expenses for her guide dog.

  • Sponsored a low-vision educational seminar. 

  • Presented the David B. Klingaman Citizenship Award (a small stipend) to 14 area high-school seniors

  • Spear-headed a drive among several clubs to raise the funds to send a 15-year-old girl to Clara Barton Diabetes Camp for two weeks. 

  • Provided holiday gifts for a needy family of four.

  • Donated to Vacation Camp for the Blind; NABA's KidSight program; Troy's Ready-to-Learn program for kindergarteners; Lions Eye Bank; Ride for Diabetes; Lions' Hearing Conservation Society; Fidelco Guide Dogs; and Guiding Eyes for the Blind

  • Co-sponsored a blood drive that collected enough blood to save 87 lives.

  • Two A&T Lions worked on a Habitat for Humanity house in Albany as part of the National Day of service.

  • Four A&T Lions helped load shoes as part of the "Shoes for the Shoeless" campaign. 

Between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008, the Albany & Troy Lions Club:

  • Collected 14200 pairs of used eyeglasses and about 80 used hearing aids. 

  • Provided eyeglasses for 45 children and 18 adults.

  • Donated funds so that a blind girl could continue her piano lessons.

  • Purchased special glasses for 4-year-old twins.

  • Spear-headed a drive among several clubs to raise the funds to send  the family of an 11-year-old diabetic boy to Circle of Life Camp.

  • Contributed funds for an interpreter to accompany a deaf and blind 11th-grader on her school trip to Italy.

  • Purchased a flashing smoke detector for the family of a young deaf girl.

  • Provided holiday gifts for a needy family of four.

  • Presented small scholarships to  graduating seniors from 14 area high schools

  • Provided funds to send a Troy High sophomore to the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership seminar.

  • Held a dinner to honor the school nurses in our area. Guest speaker Dr John Simon, Chief of Pediatric Ophthalmology  at the Lions Eye Institute and Albany Medical Center, provided valuable information about eye problems that affect school children to the 70 nurses who attended.

  • Donated to Sight Society of NENY; Bike Ride for Diabetes; Lions Camp Badger; NABA