Catasauqua Area Lions Club hosted an open house Jan. 23 at Jednota Slovak Center Social Club, North Catasauqua, in the hopes of spreading awareness about the organization and attracting new members.

Lions Clubs around the country and beyond are made up of charitably minded men and women who volunteer their time to serve in their communities. Catasauqua Area Lions Club, in particular, has lent its support to countless projects in both Catasauqua and North Catasauqua since its creation in 1972.

Over the years, the group has assisted with many community projects, such as the creation of Suburban North Family YMCA, the cleanup of the Lehigh Canal and the organization of the J4 Celebration/Independence Day events.

The club organizes a holiday dinner for the elderly and indigent, which has become a long-standing yearly tradition.

The club also raises funds for a number of annual prizes and activities. For local youth, the Lions Club makes donations to support the high school athletic teams, awards academic scholarships to graduating seniors and provides a Christmas shopping spree for underprivileged children.

With 1.4 million members in more than 45,000 clubs, Lions Club International is the largest service club in the world. The local Lions Club, however, is currently down to just 13 members.

Robert Zakos Jr., who organized the open house, is the club’s youngest member at age 41. Zakos wrote a letter inviting people from every business and organization in both boroughs to attend the open house and consider joining the Lions Club.

“The motto of the Lions is, ‘We Serve.’ Recently, our club has been having difficulty in succeeding to fulfill our motto,” Zakos said in the letter.

That difficulty has everything to do with the club’s low membership, and as the remaining members get older, it only gets more challenging.

Catasauqua and North Catasauqua are fortunate to have a number of organizations that work to support those in need and the community at large, such as Mrs. Nothstein’s Helping Hands, Catasauqua Community Food Bank, North Catasauqua Betterment Committee and North Catasauqua Recreation Committee, among others.

Throughout its history, Catasauqua Area Lions Club has been one of those crucial groups, so the members are desperate to keep the club going and continue their work because there is always more to be done. Unfortunately, turnout at the open house was very low.

For 2020, Catasauqua Area Lions Club plans to repeat all of its annual activities, like the Most Improved Senior scholarship and holiday shopping spree for underprivileged youth.

They also hope to find a new venue for their holiday dinner. Previously, the dinner was held at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, but when the church was sold in 2019, the dinner had to be canceled.

Beyond that, the Lions are always looking to help those in need and give back to the community, so the group is eager to meet other charitably minded people and hear new ideas.

Catasauqua Area Lions Club meets 7 p.m. the first and third Thursdays of every month at Jednota Slovak Center Social Club, 1223 Fifth St., North Catasauqua.