The Maben Lions Club met at Trace-Way Restaurant in Mathiston at noon on May 8. Ten members were present.
The program featured Yolanda Pruitt, a project manager for the Tobacco-free Coalition in Mississippi. She is responsible for projects in three counties: Oktibbeha, Clay and Lowndes. She is from Columbus, is married and has 1-year old twins.
Yolanda told the Maben Lions about an upcoming Town Hall meeting in the Maben City Hall to talk about the possibility of designating the town of Maben “tobacco-free” under certain guidelines agreed upon by the city board.
That means that like Starkville and 81 other towns and cities in Mississippi there would be no tobacco use in public facilities like restaurants, government buildings, public parks, the public library and in private businesses. It would not affect what happens in private homes and on private, non-public property.
This effort is designed to protect non-smokers from exposure to second-hand smoke, which has been proven to cause cancer and other serious health conditions to children, elderly and non-smokers in general, not to mention the tobacco users themselves. The ban would include cigarettes, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco and any device that delivers a direct hit of nicotine.
Before she left she gave each member present a hand sanitizer, a four-color ballpoint pen and a card with the contact information for the Mississippi Tobacco Qutlines: 1-800-QUITNOW or
www.quitlinems.com.
Other business
In other business the club finalized its project for all 19 members of record to give a gift of $20 to the Lions Clubs International Foundation, which provides $10,000 grants to areas in the world that experience natural disasters. The Maben area received such a grant to help families and individuals in 2011 when a bad tornado devastated much of this area, especially Cumberland. The club sent a check for $380 to LCIF to help with these projects.
The club also voted to help an individual with new glasses. This makes five individuals who have been approved for such help in the past year.
Rob and Jane Collins also reported on a special Hunger Project that they participated in May 5 at the Lions of Mississippi State Convention in Columbus. About 30 volunteers packed 10,000 meal packets that will feed over 40,000 people in a third-world country in Africa.
The meal packets were vacuum-packed bags containing a four-person meal consisting of a seasoning pouch, dried vegetables, soy and about a cup of rice.
The project was completed in less than two hours of highly efficient and cooperative action by the volunteers. The work was accompanied by jazzy music to help keep up the rhythm of the action. Much fun was had by all. It was a true example of Lions at work following our motto of “We Serve.”
