Pearl City Lions Club community volunteers joined several Hawaii District 50 Lions Clubs during the Pali Lions $10,000 Weinberg Grant check presentation to P.A.R.E.N.T.S. Inc. on Saturday, June 22, 2013 at King Intermediate School in Kaneohe.
P.A.R.E.N.T.S. Inc. – Providing Awareness Referrals Education Nurturing Therapy Support works closely with the community in support of the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect.
PARENTS, Inc. Executive Director Lisa Groulx and Board Treasurer Marlene Texeira, along with other PARENTS, Inc. representatives, were present to accept the check donation from the Pali Lions Club. Both Groulx and Texeira spoke about the importance of receiving the additional Weinberg Grant funding for their programs as well as the role that the Hawaii District Lions Clubs play in support of PARENTS, Inc.
“Our mission is to strengthen families by providing parenting education and support services and the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. The Weinberg Grant helps a lot. We don’t get a lot of unrestricted revenue anymore. You have to write a grant for specific a program. So the unrestricted revenue gives us a little more freedom to fund the additional monies that we don’t get for these programs. Our annual budget right now is 1.6 million, but most of that money is from the State of Hawaii for treatment of child abuse and neglect. We don’t have a prevention budget. Our prevention budget is from donations, it’s from fundraising and from organizations like the Lions Club and Weinberg giving unrestricted revenue because it’s really difficult to get a grant for prevention. Grantors like to fund the treatment side of it, but we know the key is prevention. If you prevent it, than you don’t even have to go into the treatment. We spend a lot of money in our state on treatment, but not a lot on the prevention side.
Thank you to the Lions Clubs for going out and doing these kinds of community projects. It’s absolutely fabulous that you guys are involved that way and want to give back to the community. We want to continue to educate people in the world that giving back is really the key. If we can teach that service part to people, it goes a long way with preventing abuse and other things in life.”
….Lisa Groulx. Executive Director, PARENTS, Inc.
“What we’re really looking to try to do is the prevention. This is where we don’t have any funding. We have to raise money for the funding and what you want to do is break the cycle that’s going on. We have the treatment, but we don’t have the support arena that we need in order to encourage the prevention. We would like to get our younger generation involved and hopefully we will be able to go into schools and have certain curriculums or we could speak to the students there and hopefully they will understand that life is good. Life does not have to continue with continually being abused. It’s one of our chief goals and this $10,000 unrestricted funds will really help a lot for this coming fiscal year.
We are so grateful that we are the recipients of this Weinberg Grant. It’s like Heaven sent, especially when we’re going into the new fiscal year and we’re trying to figure out how in the world are we going to raise money for the prevention side. This money really helps a lot.”
…..Marlene Texeira, Board Treasurer, PARENTS, Inc.
The Hawaii District 50 Lions Clubs who participated in the check presentation also joined forces to spruce up the King Intermediate School grounds and facilities. Upon completion of the school work day duties, the Pali Lions Club handed over the $10,000 Weinberg Grant check to P.A.R.E.N.T.S. Inc. in a short presentation near the school cafeteria.
The following Lions Clubs assisted the Pali Lions Club volunteers in helping to build new school benches, paint restrooms, and tend to the school grounds by trimming back vegetation and raking up leaves;
Kaneohe Lions, Kahaluu Lions, Manawalea Lions, Koolaupoko Lions, Pearl City Lions and Mana Loa Nimitz Lions Clubs.
“This is always great when the Lions can come together for an important community project. As a District Governor for Hawaii Lions, I would like to say that this is what we do. Whether it’s for a Weinberg Grant or for some other community organization, the Lions are always glad to come out and support those organizations and improve the community. That’s what we’re all about, community service and helping the community."
…..Jack Kampfer, Current Hawaii Lions District 50 Governor
“Without the Lions being here to respond to our needs today, who knows how long we would have to wait to get some of these improvements or repairs done to our school. We’re greatly appreciative of the manpower which is the key behind any big project and just having the bodies and the willingness to do the hard work that needs to be done.”
…..Robert Lockyer, Vice-Principal, King Intermediate School
For more information, please contact Lisa Groulx, Executive Director at [email protected], or call (808) 223-4541.
To learn more about the work that P.A.R.E.N.T.S. Inc.is doing in our communities, log on to: http://www.hawaiiparents.org