On September 8, the Canora Wheatland Lioness Club donated $4,041.83 to the Canora Benevolent Fund.
The donation represented the proceeds from the women’s night out event on May 23, said Julia Westerman, Lioness president. The sold-out event was organized around a tribute to Elvis concert by Rory Allen.
The Lioness Club has to thank the community for making the event so successful which, in turn, made it possible to support the Benevolent Fund, she said. The Club has supported this cause in the past, with the previous donation being $1,000 in 2013.
It is the community support which makes donations like this possible, said Karen Wishlow, a Lioness member. The money comes from the community and the club puts it back into the community. “And we had fun doing it.”
Benevolent Fund president Alfred Tataryn, who was invited to the Lioness Club’s first meeting of the new season to formally accept the donation, thanked the club, saying the money will be put to good use in the community. One never knows who will need the Benevolent Fund’s support in the future.
There are 13 Lioness Club members, a number which has remained constant for several years.
The purpose of the Benevolent Fund is mainly to help people with medical costs, said Tataryn. Travel and lodging costs associated with medical care represent the greatest needs.
Earlier in the year, the Benevolent Fund executive had issued a statement that it was running low in available funds, in part due to an increase in requests for assistance. In 2013, the requests totalled $2,300 but in 2014, there was more than $8,000 paid out, Lorri Dennis, the Benevolent Fund’s secretary, said in an earlier interview.
During that period there were a few requests that could not be addressed due to a shortage of funds, she said.
The community did respond to the appeal and a number of donations have been received this year, said Tataryn.
