The Hollister Lioness Club, a service organization involved in
local events and fundraisers for nearly 23 years, will disband in
mid-June because of burnout by many long-time participants and
difficulty attracting new officers.
The Hollister Lioness Club, a service organization involved in local events and fundraisers for nearly 23 years, will disband in mid-June because of burnout by many long-time participants and difficulty attracting new officers.
“It’s attrition,” said Eileen Garske, who has been a Lioness for 10 years. “The same people have been doing the same things year after year. And those women have been doing it for so long. They’re burned out.”
Most of the 19 Lioness Club members are retired, with many of the core members in their 70s and 80s. Some of the women have experienced health problems in recent years, Garske said.
Moreover, the nonprofit organization has experienced difficulty attracting new membership from younger generations.
“I guess people have become too busy with their own lives,” said Kathy Ritter, a Lioness since the club’s origin. “That sounds ridiculous, but people have their own things of interest.”
The club traditionally holds a board of directors meeting and a regular meeting each month, but will disband after its June 17 meeting.
In recent years, the Lioness Club has raised funds for several scholarships annually and recently allocated money to the Emmaus House project, which will shelter battered women and children. It has also been actively involved with programs to aid the blind and deaf.
“It is going to leave a gap in the community because we have done a lot,” Garske said.
Since the fellowship’s founding in 1980, the organization has shared an affiliation with the Hollister Lions Club, which remains strong, according to its members.
The organization helped operate the Lion’s Club booth during the county fair and also took part in the Lions Club’s White Cane Day to benefit the blind each year.
“We’ve been a close group for 22 years,” Ritter said. “We’ve worked together and have been involved in the community all along. We’re still a group of ladies that enjoys doing things for the community.”
Ritter said the women will remain close after the breakup, and many will continue their involvement with civic activities, just no longer as an official organization.
Lioness Pam Bloom, one of the younger generation members of the club, joined about a year ago. She said a majority of the women “have been doing it for a long, long time and are starting to want to go into other volunteering.”
President Delfina Francher, one of four remaining charter members, attributed the organization’s end to health problems. She said one member has cancer and another has serious vision problems. And many of the other women, including Francher, have problems of their own.
“I just couldn’t do it again,” Francher said.
Members of the Hollister Lions Club, founded in 1976, were saddened to hear about the Lioness Club disbanding.
Rudy Shippley, who will succeed Robert Roob as president in July, said he heard speculation about the possible abolishment about a month ago. He called the women’s organization and its involvement with Lions Club matters “very, very valuable.”
“It’s going to be a loss,” Shippley said.
In spite of that, Shippley said the Lions Club is “as strong as it’s ever going to be” because of the club’s recruitment of new members.
The Hollister Lions Club and Lioness Club are associated with Lions International, which was founded in 1917 and has more than 44,600 clubs in 190 countries.
Lions International promotes an array of programs for its clubs, including those to help the blind, educate youths and clean parks.
Shippley said the local Lions Club, with a roster of 24 members, maintains no gender restrictions and encouraged members of the disbanding Lioness Club to join.
Shippley’s wife is the secretary of the Hollister Lions Club. Another woman recently joined and is now program director for the organization’s wilderness camp for deaf children, he said.
“We’re not like some organizations,” Shippley said. “Some would prefer to have all men or women, and some say you must be a U.S. citizen to join.”
Francher said she enjoyed being a part of the Lioness Club, especially the charity aspect of the organization.
“I just feel it was kind of a let down, but then I knew I had to slow down and take it easy,” she said.
