By Kevin Wilkinson
The Alliance Lions Club / Grocery Kart Shopping Spree fundraiser has concluded for 2025. The first place winner was Taylor Dudley who won a three minute shopping spree, which took place on Saturday, November 16, at 8:00 A.M. The second place winner of a $50 gift certificate to Grocery Kart was Marina Finkey. Third prize, a frozen turkey, was won by Kelly Loomis.
This popular annual event costs only $5 per ticket or $20 for five tickets. The winner gets three minutes to fill as many shopping carts as they can with as many groceries as they can. According to the rules, the groceries may not include meat, tobacco, or alcohol, and the take of any given item is limited to four units. Taylor crammed $628.88 worth of groceries into two shopping carts.
Proceeds of this fundraiser are applied to local projects including past donations to People Helping People, Dobby’s Frontier Town, After Prom, Santa’s Helpers, maintenance of Lion’s Park at West 6th and Meadows, the Chamber of Commerce Easter Egg Hunt, and assistance to individuals who have experienced medical or fire disasters.
The Alliance Lions Club continues to support sight conservation as a response to the century old challenge to Lions Clubs International by Helen Keller. Local efforts include eyeglass assistance to qualified individuals, and accepting the donation of used eyeglasses and hearing aides. These items are then forwarded to the Lions International program that labels and distributes them in third world countries. The Alliance Lions Club also donates to Leader Dogs for the Blind, which was founded in 1939 by Lions Clubs members and continues as a project of Lions Clubs International. This important program breeds, trains, and gives service dogs to people who need them.
Legacy projects of the Alliance Lions Club include donations for the Central Park playground equipment, the Dialysis unit at Box Butte General Hospital, construction of the restrooms at 3rd and Box Butte, the tennis court backboard, the Dog Park, the traveling memorial for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, sitting benches at the park and downtown, and the cement golf cart path at the golf course.
The Alliance Lions Club continues to host annually the Nebraska Lions Foundation Mobile Screening Unit at St. Agnes Academy and the Immanuel Lutheran School. Students at both schools receive vision and hearing screening and are referred for further diagnosis if indicated. Alliance Public Schools does not participate in this program because they have the capacity to screen their own students.
The Alliance Lions Club continues to maintain the “Welcome To Alliance” signs, and serve at Community Table once a month. We are still selling sweet corn when it is ready and ringing the Bell for the Salvation Army during the Christmas Season.
Facts about the Alliance Lions Club: Our oldest member joined in 1980. Our youngest member joined in 2024. Perhaps you would like to become involved! Join us for lunch, Wednesdays at noon at the Pizza Hut.
