Local Service Club puts call out for Friends of Lions Club

More hands required to help run food truck at events this fall

By Casandra Turnbull

If you’re looking for a way to give back to your community or snag some volunteer hours without making a huge commitment – the Lion’s Club of Paris has an opportunity for you!

The local service club recently turned to the public to call for volunteers to help operate their food truck. The truck, which can be seen at many community events including Maple Syrup Festival, downtown festivals, the Paris Fair and Brantwood Farms to name a few, is the main source of revenue for the club, whose mandate is to serve the community. The call for ‘friends of the Lions’ came earlier this month as the club gears up for a very busy September and October. Like many service clubs and groups, Covid impacted the club’s membership and with many of the Lions getting older, the Club is asking the community to step forward and help fill some voids

“The food trailer is now and has been for some time the main source of fundraising for the Paris Club,” explains Lion Ken Linington. “As with the rest of the food industry, finding workers is a challenge.” The demand for the food truck is continuing to grow, but without friends to provide helping hands behind the scenes, the club cannot pull in the much-needed funds to continue to support community projects.

Paris Lions Club is asking members of the community be a friend of a Lion and sign up to volunteer in their food wagon this fall. The Service Club has a lot of events lined up and require some extra hands. Pictured are Lions members making pancakes in the food truck at the Maple Syrup Festival this past spring.

A few local and national projects the Lions support include the creation and continued improvement at Paris Lions Park, The Cowan Community Health Hub, local minor sports, Guide Dogs of Canada, Diabetes research and PDHS scholarships – just to give you an idea of the diverse range of initiatives the Club supports.

A standard shift in the truck is about five hours but can vary dependent on the volunteer. A typical shift requires six or more individuals to operate the grill, make fries, distribute food to the patrons, hand out beverages, maintain the condiment table, take orders and use the cash register When you volunteer you will be placed on a team with veteran volunteer captains who understand the Food Handlers Course requirements laid out by the Brant County Health Unit

If you think this opportunity is a good fit (Did we mention it’s great for high school students looking to fulfill those volunteer hours?) then reach out the Paris Lions Club before September to book your volunteer time slot. No experience or membership is required – just a smile and willingness to give back to your community.

The Club’s first event is the Annual Paris Fall Fair over Labour Day weekend. Every remaining weekend in September and October they travel to Brantwood Farms on Powerline Road to operate the food wagon during fall activities opened to the public at the farm.

If you’d like to become a friend of the Lions Club or would like to speak with Linington about the opportunity before committing, reach out by email to klinington48@gmail.com or by phone at 519-4422099