About Salmon Creek Lions Club Foundation

Salmon Creek Lions Foundation ,  EIN 46-3418367 , is an affiliate of the Salmon Creek Lions Club.

Salmon Creek Lions Foundation is approved as a 501(c)3 organization, EIN 46-3418367. Your contributions may be tax deductible.

A major event in the history of the Salmon Creek Lions Club occurred in 2015 when the Club commenced an effort to screen the vision of children in Southwest Washington; and to underwrite the significant cost by seeking donations and grants to its Foundation, which had been established two years earlier. In fact, the effort builds on the near century-long response of Lions Clubs International to the challenge issued by Helen Keller in 1925 for the Lions to become “knights of the blind.” Since then, Lions have worked tirelessly around the world to meet that challenge with the goal of screening all children by the age of seven.With the help of other Lions Clubs over the past six years, the Salmon Creek Lions Club has been instrumental in the screening of nearly 45,000 persons (mostly children and youth) by deploying the latest technology: four electronic “cameras.” Of that total, about 4,500 were referred to eye professionals for more detailed exams. Most of the screenings occurred in Head Start classrooms and in public and private schools. During the 2020-21 school year, the Club adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by loaning its screening equipment to schools and training their staff in its operation. Now, as of September 2021, it looks like the new school year will be a hybrid version with some schools welcoming Lions screeners back to their buildings while other schools will continue using loaned equipment.The past several years also produced another milestone in Southwest Washington: numerous Lions in other Lions clubs volunteered to be screeners and several other clubs established Foundations and purchased cameras. SCLC has welcomed this sharing of the workload and is gratified that the effort now has formal status at the District 19 level which comprises 40 Lions clubs in eight counties west of the Cascades and north of the Columbia River.

Salmon Creek Lions Club also has been a dedicated supporter of the Lions Sight Foundation of Clark County which was established in 2007, although Lions’ outreach activities locally to those in need have been ongoing since 1952. During the first 67 years of service, local Lions have funded 9,998 exams and classes and over 137 surgeries through a network of partners. In 2019, the Foundation processed an average of 46 applications monthly at an average cost of $115 per approved application for a total of $42,000. Although the pandemic has curtailed somewhat the Sight Foundation’s work, it remains a major concern that needs are outstripping its income and forcing withdrawals from endowments. Donations are desperately needed and can be made directly at https://lionssightfoundationofclarkcounty.org or through the Salmon Creek Lions Club on this website.

Free Shred Event
Lions Serving the Community at Shred Event

The Club’s Foundation has made significant donations to organizations and programs such as:

  • Clark County Food Bank
  • Diabetes education programs at our local hospitals
  • Neighbors Helping Neighbors (serving community needs in five local zip code areas)
  • Gales Creek Camp & Camp Leo (for diabetic children/youth)
  • Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center (serving needs globally)
  • CARE (since 1945, fighting poverty and world hunger)
  • Northwest Lions Foundation (helping restore sight and hearing of needy persons)
  • Lions Clubs International Foundation (the charitable arm of LCI, meeting humanitarian needs worldwide)

You may donate to any of the above causes through the Salmon Creek Lions Club. Your donation will be greatly appreciated!