The Lions of Wisconsin own one of the best camps for disabled
persons in the world. Located in Rosholt, just east of Stevens Point, the
425 acre camp with a 40 acre privately owned lake, hosts 1,700 children every
summer for a totally free week or two of camping. Programs are for
visually and hearing impaired children, those who are cognitively disabled and
now a program for children with diabetes. The rest of the year the camp is
used by disabled adults and rented out as a retreat center. Visit the
camp's website at
www.wisconsinlionscamp.com.
The camp is one project of the Wisconsin Lions Foundation which has many other
projects for those with disabilities. The Eye Glass Recycling Center
process a million used eyeglasses and hearing aids each year, cleaning and
sorting them for distribution by Lions in countries like Mexico and the
Philippines. Each year several Wisconsin Lions make trips to Mexico to
distribute eyeglasses through our Mission to Mexico project. The
Wisconsin Lions bought a large trailer to transport the eyeglasses as well as
school and medical equipment donated by Wisconsin residents, schools and
clinics. The foundation also has a Diabetes Education Program where
specialists travel the state educating medical professionals about the signs and
symptoms of the disease. The Hearing Program supplies free hearing
aids to low income individuals. This program is funded by donations of
used hearing aids which are recycled by the manufacturer and credit is given to
the Lions for new aids. To learn more about the foundation and its
projects, visit www.wlf.info.
The highest honor that the foundation can bestow a Lion or
Lioness is the Birch-Sturm Fellowship, which is a $1,000 donation, usually paid
for by the member's club, to the foundation's endowment fund. Five Fond du
Lac Evening Lions are Birch-Sturm Fellows: Wayne Bargenquast, Robert Berryman,
Charles Browning, Thomas Clausen, and Michael Konen.
Key Benefits