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The Lake Lure Lions Club presented Laura Krejci the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award on Thursday, August 11, 2022 at their meeting held at La Strada. The Melvin Jones Fellowship Award is one of the highest awards the club can present to someone for humanitarian service. It's generally given to Lions members to honor their service with the Lions, but it can be given to anyone that the club would like to honor. Presenting this award to someone in the community is a good form of recognition and publicity for both the club and the deserving individual.
Vision, Youth, Disaster Relief, Humanitarianism, Diabetes, Childhood Cancer, Environment and Hunger represent the primary areas of focus of Lions Clubs International and the Lions Clubs International Foundation.
The Lake Lure Lions Club is pleased to present the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award to Laura Krejci. Although Laura is not a Lion, she has done some amazing things for the community as a volunteer of utmost character and goodwill. She and her husband, Richard, moved to Lake Lure in 2017.
Laura has had a major impact on the community of Lake Lure. She serves as a Communication Specialist for the Town of Lake Lure. Laura has organized annual Veterans Day celebrations. The Lions helped at the most recent Veterans Day program which was held on the Terrace in Rumbling Bald. Laura organized the program and reached out to the Lions to help with greeting people and directing them to seats, handing out favors, etc. Laura has also been very active in the Mountains Branch Chapel holding many leadership positions including the Women of the Church.
The Town holds the Lighting up Lake Lure for the Holidays program annually at the Flowering Bridge. Laura organized a snack dinner (homemade soup and sandwiches) for the students from the Lake Lure Classical Academy who performed for the program. In 2021 she arranged for the Lions to assist with serving the students, cleaning up the kitchen and escorting the students from Town Hall to the Flowering Bridge for the Program.
Laura is a kind, welcoming person who is always looking to make people feel comfortable. The Lions had a speaker come to our club who discussed the Mentoring for Medicine program for students at the Lake Lure Classical Academy. She and Dr. Rivers Woodward attended that meeting. She is an active mentor of two seniors attending the Lake Lure Classical Academy.
Laura is a social worker by profession. Laura agreed to volunteer as the social worker for Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach. She makes herself available weekly to meet with clients that come to pick up their food. If someone has a problem, she will work with them. Laura recently joined the Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach Board.
The Lions main motto is "We Serve." Its primary mission is, "To empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through Lions clubs." Much of this is done through service and fundraising activities and donating to nonprofit organizations and causes, among which Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach, "serving needs with love and compassion," is one of the principal groups. The club also donates to other nonprofit causes, including aid to visually impaired persons and programs and local fire and EMS departments, provides scholarships to qualified local high school students, and assists other worthy initiatives.
If you are interested in joining the Lake Lure Lions Club, feel free to reach out to Fay Kobland at her email address fkobland@gmail.com. Her presidential term expires at the end of June 2023 but she will continue as Membership Chair for the club and would love to hear from you. The club meets at La Strada Restaurant the second Thursday of each month. Beyond helping the community, members have a lot of fun and build camaraderie.
