A bloke walked up to the Lions Club BBQ stall at a Cowes Carols by the Bay event,

“No thanks, I don’t want to buy any sausages,” he said. “I just want to make a donation. You see, a Lions Club turned my life around a few years back.”

He dropped a few notes into the Lions donation box, took his kids by the hand and walked with them over to listen to the choir.

A Cowes teenager, recently admitted to foster care, was able to make his much-wanted return to school because Lions bought him a school uniform that his new foster parents could not afford.

A young Island mum is now able to care for her own child at home after receiving a foster-carer allowance for another child. That foster child could not have been taken on until Lions donated some furniture.

Chair of the Telethon Kids Institute, the Hon. Julie Bishop said: “We are so grateful for Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation’s support. This $1.05 million in funding will enable the Telethon Kids Cancer Centre to continue its leading research into childhood cancer – particularly in the area of cancer immunotherapy, which focuses on supercharging the body’s natural defences to destroy cancer cells.”

These stories, and many similar ones, are the reasons why Phillip Island Lions Club members and volunteers keep raising funds by cooking sausages and picking up and delivering donated second-hand furniture.

The main public face of the club is our weekend used furniture, hardware and bric-a-brac market, known to many as Steptoe’s Emporium, in Dunsmore Road, Cowes. It’s open Saturday morning 9.30am –12.30pm and Sunday morning 9.30am –12pm.

Pickups and deliveries can usually be arranged. New volunteers welcome.