Sapulpa is blessed to have many civic clubs with devoted, hard-working members who contribute their time, talents, and money, in order to make Sapulpa a better place to live.
The four primary organizations are the Lions Club, Kiwanis, Rotary Club, and the Masonic Lodge.
Lions Club
According to their website, the purpose of Lions Club International is “To Encourage service-minded people to serve their community without personal financial reward, and to encourage efficiency and promote high ethical standards in commerce, industry, professions, public works and private endeavors.”
The mission statement is: “To empower Lions clubs, volunteers, and partners to improve health and well-being, strengthen communities, and support those in need through humanitarian services and grants that impact lives globally, and encourage peace and international understanding.”
The primary humanitarian effort on which the Lions club focuses is assisting the blind and visually impaired. It is estimated that 80% of all visual impairments can be prevented or cured.
Here in Sapulpa, the Lions Club partners with Eye To Eye vision care to provide eyeglasses and exams for local students. Treasurer Kirk Bartgis said that the facility will often look for alternative funding, thus freeing up the money to help yet another student. He also explained the special camera the club has that will determine if a child needs glasses, that the club has and the training involved to use it. He said the club spends several thousand dollars a year to provide exams and glasses for needy recipients.
The Lions SightFirst program builds comprehensive eye-care systems to fight the major causes of blindness, and care for blind and visually-impaired people.
The Sapulpa Lions Club has a special camera that allows them to do eye screenings. They have screened students at Sapulpa Public Schools and are available to screen others.
Kiwanis
Parnell gave the Sapulpa Herald a brief overview of what Kiwanis do in Sapulpa. “Our main focus is on kids, we have organizations in high school, junior high, middle school, and two elementaries. We help build a focus on volunteerism. We do a lot of civic stuff, we do a golf tournament to help with our scholarships, we give several scholarships at the end of the year, we funded the new walkway behind Reaors that is going to connect Kelly Lane eventually over to Jefferson Heights. We raised $50,000 for that. In Kelly Lane, we did the platform that goes out into the pond and we have started doing the Reg Green Memorial Fishing Derby.”
Past President Sandie Howard elaborated on the good works done by Kiwianais: “SLPs are my pet project. They are Service Leadership Programs in the schools. At the high school, it is the Key Club, at the middle school and junior high, it is the Builder’s Club, and then, at the elementary level, it is the K-Kids Program at Liberty and one at Holmes Park. We touch an awful lot of lives that way. We try to support them financially and be at their meetings. They do different service projects so, to me, it’s like Kiwanis has the opportunity to reach out way further, because the kids are doing things…We usually do four $2,000 scholarships, that is the single largest financial thing that we do. We raised $100,000 for Kelly Lane for the trails.”
It is self-evident that Kiwanis contribute a great deal of time and money to the community. This organization is just another example of the volunteer spirit in Sapulpa.
Rotary
The Rotary website lays out its mission statement:
“We provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.”
The main focus of the Sapulpa Rotary Club is the Sapulpa school system. The Rotary Club provided coats for the students at Liberty Elementary, as well as supported numerous programs in Sapulpa Schools.
Masonic Lodge
According to their website: Freemasonry is a voluntary organization promoting a way of life that binds men together in a worldwide brotherhood. It transcends all religious, ethnic, cultural, social, and educational differences in order to promote positive changes in the world.
Among other charitable causes, Sapulpa Lodge #170 supports the Liberty Stem School and donates thousands of dollars each year so students can take field trips.
