Requests for Funding & Assistance

Thank you for visiting our website. Let us tell you a little about ourselves and what we do.

Did you know that the Sooke Lions club is non-profit service club that has proudly served the community of Sooke for over 60 years? We are all volunteers with varied careers, skills, and life experiences, who are passionate about helping make our community a wonderful place to live. More importantly, we help our community in times of need.

You have probably seen us out and about in the community and asked yourself: what exactly do we do? There are two distinct and important components:

Firstly, we do acts of service.

These are activities in which we physically do things to help others, when we do not receive remuneration. Some examples of acts of service are:

  • We volunteer at the Sooke Food Bank, helping sort and distribute food to those in need, both in Sooke and the surrounding area.
  • We volunteer at the Sooke Family Resource Society Thrift Store, helping receive and sort donations.
  • We volunteer at the Sooke Harbour Cemetery, maintaining the grounds.
  • Once a year, we provide free pancake breakfasts to Sooke elementary and middle schools.
  • We help other Lions Clubs and community groups with their fundraising events in the community.
  • We host community events such as:
  • We assist or participate in other community events such as:
    • All Sooke Day
    • Coldest Night of the Year
    • The Sooke 10k Run
    • Sooke Garden Tour
    • Sooke Fall Fair

These are but a few of the many acts of service that we quietly and proudly do in our community.

Secondly, we fundraise to support community programs.

The second component of our club is that we have many fundraising activities throughout the year to support our numerous Lions Projects such as:

  • We fund the grade two swim program at SEAPARC, where every second-grade student in Sooke receives free swim lessons. And we have recently expanded our swim program to include families with children who are on the autism spectrum.
  • We provide scholarships every year to local high school students.
  • We have proudly supported Amber Academy, who provide a valuable after school program for children.
  • We also support youth programs such as:
    • Scouts
    • Sea Cadets
    • Play & Learn Camp
    • Sooke Sailing Association
    • Dolly Parton Imagination Library
    • School trips
    • Local sports teams
  • We have also helped raise money for Camp Shawnigan and Tour de Rock every year.

Our major fundraising projects include, but are not limited to:

Learn more about all the community events and projects in which we participate.

View All Events
View All Projects

Making a Request

Our primary focus is to help non-profit groups in our community with either financial assistance or acts of service.

For our club to properly and expediently consider your request, we ask for some basic information:

  1. What is the name of your organization?
    • Tell us a little about what you do.
    • What are your goals and objectives?
    • How will our donations help those in our community?
  2. Are you a non-profit organization?
  3. Are you asking us to help you with a fundraising project?
  4. If you are asking for a donation, how much money are you requesting?
  5. What will the funds be used for? Please be specific.
  6. Is this a third-party request? (i.e. Are you seeking funding for another group or individual in the community?)
  7. What other fundraising activities have you done to accomplish your goals?
  8. Who else have you approached for funding?

To request a substantial amount of money:

  • Are you prepared to attend one of our meetings to make a presentation and answer follow up questions?
  • In very limited circumstances, we may request a financial statement. Is this something that you would be prepared to provide?

IMPORTANT

The Sooke Lions Club requests a minimum of four weeks to consider your request. Unfortunately, last-minute requests will not be considered unless there are urgent, exigent circumstances, which will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Please direct any requests for assistance to:

Lion Steve Moir, Secretary
Sooke Lions Club
sookelionsmd19@gmail.com