Lions Club International is a service club helping those in need of assistance including services in sight, health, youth, elderly, environment, and disaster relief. Lions collects eyeglasses for distribution where needed, including for doctors traveling to third-world countries.
HEI's Kristin Michels traveled to New Salem and Rugby to attend events and manages most of the marketing for the Minot Lions Club. She was recently elected as membership chair and received the Rookie Lion Award. The Rookie Lion Award honors any Lions Club member for being involved in a number of club and service activities throughout the first year of membership.
Kristin leads many marketing and public relations tasks for the Minot Lions Club and events, including social media updates and redesigning the Club's website, which is currently in progress. She has led marketing for several fundraisers over the last year: a chili and cornbread fundraiser last November that raised $6,000 for disaster relief in Baton Rouge and other flooded areas, and the annual German Bier Feast that raised over $7,500 for each of the Minot Lions and the Magic City Lions Clubs.
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Photo courtesy of Minot Lions Club Facebook page.
What was your motivation for joining the Minot Lions Club?
Encouragement came from all around me. My mom has been active for nearly 20 years, my sister for 7, and an extra push to get involved in the community came from my boss, Dave. Watching what the club has done for so many years, I decided to start volunteering for their events and realized how much fun it can be to do great things for the community.
What are the focus areas of the Club?
Minot Lions have collected over one million eyeglasses and counting. They support the North Dakota Association for the Blind with transportation, donations, and raising community awareness, most recently hosting Dining in the Dark. The Lions also purchase eyeglasses for local individuals, transport corneas, and support technology for the vision impaired, service dogs training centers, youth programs, meals for the elderly, and disaster relief.
What is your favorite part of your involvement?
Being younger than the average member, I've taken on the more "techy" roles to get our club more exposure in the digital world. My future goals are to recruit younger members and encourage more active volunteering to partner with our donations.
Kristin (middle) at the German Bier Feast fundraiser .