SOUTH ABINGTON TWP. — Usually the first name called in a raffle drawing wins the big prize. Every time a name was called at the Clarks Summit Ramada Saturday, Nov. 5, guests crossed their fingers that it wasn’t theirs.
That’s because the final named announced at the Abington Lions Club Elimination Dinner won the big prize — $2,500. Over 100 guests purchased raffle tickets in hopes of becoming the “last man standing.”
Proceeds benefited the Lions’ many programs and charitable donations throughout the year.
“I think it’s a great event for the Abington Lions to raise money to help local charities and scholarships,” said attendee Buddy Croft.
One of the Abington Lions Club’s projects is the Abington Regional Santa Project. The club co-sponsors with Abington Dental Arts, P.C. for this event, in which a member dressed as Santa will go door-to-door delivering toothbrushes, toothpastes, dental floss, and Beanie Babies.
“We visit 400 children within the Abington Heights School District,” said Ed Borek, a past president of the club and District 14H convention chairman.
The Elimination Dinner Party also benefits the Pennsylvania Lions Beacon Lodge Camp, which is a summer camp for children and adults who are blind or physically or mentally handicapped.
“This past year, we gave a low-income lady a hearing aid and an ear exam and another lady eyeglasses,” said Borek.
“The Lions Club is the sole supporter of the camp,” added Lions member Ellen Burkey, who read aloud the raffle numbers during the drawing. “Most of the people who go are on some kind of government support because they’re not working.”
Burkey got the idea of an elimination dinner from a similar event that she went to at a firehouse in the Montrose area.
“I saw that they (firehouse) raised a lot of money, and everybody had a really good time while they did it,” she said. “Ed (Borek) was looking for ideas for the Abington Lions on how to have a fundraiser because they used to have a carnival. That (the carnival) turned out to be a lot of work and a lot of time, and it was difficult to find volunteers to do that, so they were looking for new ideas. I raised my hand and offered this idea (elimination dinner party). That was probably a big mistake because since then, I’ve been in charge of it.”
Burkey mentioned that the first year was hard to sell tickets because not many people knew what an elimination party was. The club sold more in the second year because people had fun the previous year. Now in the third year, the tickets were sold out.
“We give away probably about $6,500 in prizes,” she said.
Although most of the guests were eliminated from the grand prize, some of them still won prizes along the way, such as gift certificates and cash prizes of $100.
The elimination dinner also sponsors Abington area Little League teams: the Abington Juniors, Abington Little League Farm, and the Abington girls’ softball team. The club also sponsors two $1,000 scholarships in which students must submit a financial statement and a committee activity report. They also give cash donations to the Lackawanna Blind Association and the Dalton Food Pantry.
“I’m so glad that the money they are raising is for charities,” said Bob Kulp, past president of the South Abington Lions Club.
The members of Abington Lions Club also assist in the upkeep of Hillside Park. They helped build the trail around Eston Wilson Lake and provided concessions for the park’s concert series. On holidays, they give travelers coffee and pastry at a rest stop off Interstate 81 North.
“The Abington Lions is an integral part of Lions International,” said Borek. “Last year in Japan, they completed the 99th international convention and presently in a year-long celebration. And in July (2017), we will have a celebration in Chicago for the 100th anniversary. Lions International has challenged all Lions in 210 countries with a membership of 1.4 million to provide 100 million deeds of service to the less fortunate and humanitarian needs from around the world. For our 100th anniversary, the US Treasury will mint a one-pure-ounce silver coin in commemorative of 100 years of global service from the Lions.”
Immediate past president Rich Winslow, who was also present at the dinner, agrees with the elimination dinner being the Abington Lions Club’s biggest fundraiser.
“It helps us to support the Lions-related projects,” he said. “We hope to keep it going with the support of the community. We help support Lions’ projects nationally and internationally. We are always looking for new members, who are interested in serving the community as well as the Abington projects.”
