About Us

Gabriola Island Lions Club Mission

“To create and foster a spirit of understanding among all people for humanitarian needs by providing voluntary services through community involvement and international cooperation.”

The Gabriola Island Lions Club has a long history of providing hands on service to the community of Gabriola Island.

We help our Gabriola Island youth by funding high school scholarships and youth in sports, work with local elementary school’s PAC for classroom requirements and sports program equipment, the island scouts and guides, after school programs, kids help line and we foster community spirit with our youth exchange program.

We assist with funding many island organizations including the PHC food & outreach programs, our Gabriola children, the Gabriola Museum, the Community Hall, supportive housing and the medical clinic among many others. We also team up with the Gabriola Land & Trails Trust and BC Parks for maintenance of our island parks and trails.

As one of the Lions’ core missions is to fight blindness, we do our part by funding spot screening at the Gabriola Elementary School, collect used eyeglasses that are repurposed for those in need, donate funds to guide and other support dogs and purchase equipment for those that are visually impaired.

The Gabriola Island Lions Club is proud to support our island residents that are in need of a hand up. Our firewood program is one of our key service activities, providing needed warmth during the winter months. We also assist with emergency funding and mobility equipment such as scooters and wheelchairs.

Our club mission is to empower our volunteers to serve their community. meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding as Lions have always done for over 100 years.

Our long time Club Secretary is Awarded!

“Here’s an award I gotta say I was gobsmacked to have been presented. Recognition for my dedication to Lionism and to our Gabriola Lions Club and accepting the position of District 19-I Chair for the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, when Lion Cec Specht felt he needed to recover from his stroke. It was such an honour. And, I’m loving the Dog Guides position though I’ve only been in it since Feb 1 2023.” Well done Lion Carol!

Gabriola Lions Club Recognized by Lions International!

Your Gabriola Island Lions Club was awarded the International President’s Certificate for the year 2022 – 2023 in recognition of our on-going service provided to our island community. Yearly, this certificate is awarded to only 3 Lions clubs in the whole world! What a huge honour for us as a club and another incentive that drives us to love and support the people and the island of Gabriola!

Gabriola Island Lions Club - Lion of the Year 2022

The Gabriola Island Lions Club Lion of the Year for 2022 is Lion Shirley Nicholson.

Lion Shirley exemplifies what being a Lion is all about. She is involved in most, if not all, our community events by lending a helping hand and even providing baked goods to keep the rest of us going. She ensures that our food service is kept to code and is quick to reprimand those not following her strict guidelines. Over the last decade, with her husband Lion Ken, she has volunteered her home and gardens for our annual summer BBQ.

Lion Shirley cares about our island community so much that outside of the Lions, she is involved with our island emergency services volunteering to help others that are experiencing a crisis or helping to operate emergency centers when there are power and communication disruptions. She is involved with GROWLS, our island wildlife rescue services, helping animals that are experiencing a crisis. And there is so much more.

Well done Lion Shirley. You have raised the bar so high it will be difficult to follow your footsteps.

THE CLIVE TUTTY MEMORIAL AWARD FOR LION OF THE YEAR

The Clive Tutty Memorial Award is presented to a Garbiola Island Lions Club member who has best served Lionism for the past 12 months – our Lion of the Year.Clive Tutty was an unsung hero of the Gabriola Lions Club. Clive was one of those guys who always stepped up to the plate when things needed to be done. He was treasurer for 11 years, managed the equipment rentals and was the talent scout for the Concert on the Green to name a few things he had his hand in.Clive suffered a heart attack during a Lions pancake breakfast and passed away shortly after. He was a hardworking member of the Gabriola Lions Club right to the end.

Honouring Lion John Barton

John Barton passed away December 2nd 2021. Lion John was a member of the Gabriola Lions club for 36 years. He served as President of the club for 2 years and he has been an active member on many committees during his years of service. Lion John was instrumental in securing the first Bingo licence for the Gabriola Lions Club and he ran the Bingo Program for 26 years when it was necessary to volunteer time in the Bingo halls and go to government meetings in order to secure the funding. In his 26 years managing this Program Lion John must have pulled in close to $500,000 in today’s money. When he worked the bingo halls for no pay and attended the required meetings he never claimed any personal expenses. Lion John was also one of the pioneers of the Christmas Ferry Line Program and in the early years of this Program he personally delivered 50+ hampers each year at his own cost.

The success and reputation of our club today has been built on the backs of people like Lion John. He was the first member of our club to receive the Judge Brian Stevenson award and he was the first member of our club to receive the Clive Tutty Lion of the Year award. He is also the only member of our club in possession of the Lions International 100 Year Silver Dollar Memorial.- Lion Paul

Youth

The Gabriola Island Lions Club supports our island youth by providing funding for:

High school scholarships to qualified students for post secondary learning
The Gabriola Elementary School PAC for classroom & playground equipment
The Hope Centre for the after school “Teen Peer Helper” program
The island’s Boy Scouts & Girl Guides equipment needs and registration fee support
The kids Help Phone crisis line
Lions Youth Exchange program where qualified youth will experience a country of their choice to learn a culture and serving

Community

The Gabriola Island Lions Club supports our many island organizations by assisting with funding for:

The People for a Heathy Community food bank and community support programs such as the Senior’s Circle of Care
The Gabriola Museum and Historical Society for various programs ranging from renovations, displays, audio visual equipment to outdoor signage
The Health Care Foundation to help in the creation of the Gabriola Health Centre and to equip the Urgent Treatment Room as well as any future requirements
The Gabriola Community Hall for building renovations and equipment
The Gabriola Agricultural Hall for various building improvements
The Gabriola Arts Council for helping to make their building wheelchair accessible

Vision

The Gabriola Island Lions Club supports the Lions’ core mission of fighting blindness by:

Help fund and assist with spot screening of Gabriola Elementary students to find any potential vision problems
Collecting used eyewear on the island and sending them to get repurposed for those needing eyeglasses
Yearly support the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides with a dog walk that donates all funds collected to help raise and train guide dogs for those that have a disability whether vision related or other
Assist with funding of equipment for those with a vision impairment

Assistance

The Gabriola Island Lions has always been prepared to help our island residents. We do this by:

Our signature activity is to collect donated firewood. We season the wood, then split and deliver the firewood to anyone that is in need of winter warmth
Providing emergency funding to an individual or family in need of assistance
Assisting those with a mobility disability by helping fund scooters and wheelchairs