Australian Lions Children's Mobility Foundation

The District 201 N5 Lions Convention went extremely well, with lots of fun, along with the business sessions and informative presentations. One of the highlights for many was the appearance of a little girl with a very big smile in her recently acquired Hart Walker.

The Lions from City of Ryde club had particularly proud smiles on their faces, as their club assisted Magdalena with funds for her Walker. It obviously required a great deal of concentration to keep moving, but the smile, as usual, said it all.

Magdalena Karvouriaris and her parents Nicky and Mario were in attendance, along with Richard Spencer, CEO and Rob White from the Spastic Centre of NSW to receive a cheque for $65,000 which had been raised by Australian Lions for the Hart Walker program.

This made a total of $165,000 as a result of the efforts of Australian Lions, through the Lion Mint Australia program and individual club donations. Ralph Faren-Price, Multiple District Lion Mint Chairman emphasised the fact that our clubs' support of the MD Lion Mint program has helped to achieve this great result. Multiple District council Chairman Franz Mairinger had the honour of handing over an oversized cheque to Magdalena, whilst Richard Spencer took possession of the real thing.

Executive Officer John Powell pointed out that some of this amount was received by Lions as a result of other organisations and members of the public who had seen our video, and held fund-raising functions to support the program.

I think Magdalena was more impressed when Lion Michael Morley, Executive Officer of Quest Life skills Australia presented her with a Q Bear. 'Q' is short for Quentin, a super cuddly bear who is the mascot of the Lions Quest skills for Growing program, helping our primary school children to develop essential Life and citizenship skills.

The presentation evoked a great sense of pride, a lot of emotion from many, and a new determination to ensure that
all the children waiting for Hart Walkers have their chance as soon as possible.

The final chapter was played out following the presentation, when the delegates voted unanimously to adopt the Australian Children's mobility Foundation as a District Project, and to submit a motion to the delegates at our National Convention in Brisbane to approve "The Australian Lions Children's Mobility Foundation" as a Multiple District Project.

Congratulations Lions.