Avalon Lions Club Seeks to Help County Causes

To the Editor: 
As the old saying goes, “There’s no place like home.” Trouble is, where exactly is home? 
As another well-known saying goes, “Home is where the heart is.” In the case of the Avalon Lions Club, comprising nearly 150 members, our name implies Avalon is our home, but that would not be correct. In fact, Avalon serves only as our home base.
Our members hail from towns all over Cape May County, from Ocean City to Ocean View, from North Wildwood to Cape May, and from Sea Isle City to Court House. Now, in the depth of the slow season at the Jersey Shore, a time when many folks head south to warmer weather or north to Philadelphia and its suburbs, we are still here.
Cape May County, not Avalon, is really our home. Our address and our mission don’t change when the mercury drops.
We still raise money for more than a dozen charities that rely on the Avalon Lions to ask our neighbors all over the area to donate to us so we can donate to them. Charities that are based, not necessarily in Avalon, but throughout the county, are open year round, and so are we.
With a first name like Avalon, our biggest problem is overcoming the idea that a wealthy town doesn’t need help. It is an identity crisis that brings me to the point of this letter.
The money we raise at our White Cane bucket drops, our pasta dinner, and golf tournament goes mainly to organizations and causes located in communities up and down the Parkway. Summer will be back before you know it, so while the tourists and the visitors probably won’t read this, we at the Avalon Lions just want to share with our full-timers the reality of our name.
We may be based in Avalon, but our home is where our hearts are. Think of a cause, a need, a problem that involves children, health, housing or handicaps, and chances are we are there.
Look on us as a one-stop opportunity to help all our common causes in Cape May County. I hope those reading this will look differently at us when they see our name.
We are proud of Avalon, and prouder still of our neighbors in Cape May County.
Learn more at www.avalonlions.com. A small donation wouldn’t hurt either.