Kaplan Lions Club to hold Radio Auction this Saturday, Sunday

For decades, the Kaplan Lions Club has worked to help the community.
“It’s going to be 90 years in May,” Lions Club President Danny Theall said. “We serve the community as best we can.”
Theall, along with Danny Choate, attended the Kaplan City Council meeting on March 17 to promote one of the club’s biggest events, one that allows the community to “help us help others.”
The club will hold its annual Radio Auction this Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29. It will air from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days on Sunny 95.1/1450 a.m. The event will take place at the Home Association building in Kaplan. The call-in number is 337-643-9444.
“We have many projects that we take care of,” Theall said. “We have the children’s camp out of Leesville. If you have a child who has any kind of handicap, diabetes, or anything like that, we will take them to camp for a week, free of charge. It doesn’t cost the parents anything. If they can bring them, we will transport them and bring the parents with us.”
Lions Club International is well known for its eye foundation.
“The other thing we do is what we call the eye foundation,” Theall said. “We’ve connected with LSU in New Orleans. We do our eyeglasses program. Anyone 60 and over and children, we pay for.”
Theall said that effort remains a focus for younger members of the community.
“We also have the CubSight program,” Theall said. “We will go to the head start and take pictures of a child’s eyes. They will tell us if it passes or fails. We take that paperwork and send it to our foundation. They will call the doctor and set up an appointment with the parents. That doesn’t cost them a dime.”
The club also has a disaster program.
“If you remember 2016,” Theall said of the historic flood that August, “we helped pay for things lost at the elementary school.
Mayor Mike Kloesel thanked the club for its continued efforts in the community. Kloesel said he is particularly impressed with the Cub Sight program.
“I think that is one of the most important programs that y’all have,” Kloesel said. “Y’all catch a child’s eyesight that is bad, early on. A lot of times, it can take years before you realize a child’s eyesight is bad.”
Theall said the club is working to expand that program into the elementary schools.
“It’s a good program,” Theall reiterated.
That is just one of multiple ways the club helps the community. Theall said the club is always looking for new members who share the mission.
“We are here to help,” Theall said. “We need help, all we can.”