Catching up with Lions Club of Valley Stream President Janet Mahabir

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Whether it is recycling old eyeglasses or hosting food drives, the Lions Club of Valley Stream has been active in the community for 69 years as of January. The Herald recently spoke with Janet Mahabir, the president of the organization, who says she is planning to continue its service to the community and work with former presidents to help the club succeed in 2017.

What is the Lions Club of Valley Stream?

Lions Club of Valley Stream was founded in 1948 and has been a vital force in the community for almost seven decades. The club is part of Lions Club International, a network of almost 1.4 million members in over 200 countries and geographic areas. Lions are known for working to end preventable blindness and participate in a wide range of other projects ranging from cleaning up our local parks to providing supplies to victims of natural disasters.

The Lions motto is “we serve” and we, the Lions Club of Valley Stream, engage in programs that include sight conservation, hearing conservation, diabetes awareness, youth outreach, environmental issues and many others initiatives. We recently expanded our membership in North Valley Stream to include our neighboring Elmont community.

What programs do you run for Valley Stream?

Our annual scholarships for graduating seniors and donations to several local organizations are made possible from fundraising efforts like our annual flea market, bowling events, calendar and fruit sales. We also support several outreach programs within the Valley Stream community by making donations of food staples collected from several food drives we hold during the year.

Which organizations do you support?

We support Blessed Sacrament Family Services and Holy Name of Mary Parish Outreach Program. These two organizations are recipients of all the food collected from our food drives and we donate monies and gift cards for their Christmas celebrations. Last year we also assisted Holy Name of Mary Parish Outreach with school supplies for the new school year. We donate regularly to the following charities and organizations: The Anchor Program Fund, Sunrise Day Camp, Waldinger Library, Franklin Hospital Northshore, St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Valley Stream Little League, Valley Stream Auxiliary Police, Valley Stream Fire Department, Valley Stream Civilian Patrol, New Horizon Counseling Center and the Valley Stream Historical Society.

When do you hold your meetings?

Our meetings are held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Name of Mary Convent Room 1, at 94 South Grove Road, and at Mia's Restaurant on Rockaway Avenue.

When did you become a member?

I became a member of the Lions Club of Valley Stream in the spring of 2012, and in July of 2015, I became the first women president.

What challenges do you face running a community service club?

I became the first woman president after 67 years as a Lions Club in Valley Stream and it was a bit of an uphill taking over process, but overall I had and still have the support of my fellow Lions. I look at each member for his or her own strength and try to foster positive and healthy team spirit.

How do you deal with any problems in the club?

I turn to the grass-root members and past presidents, like Lions Joe Scholl, Bernard Ciccarelli, Jose Pastrana and our Immediate Past District Governor, TJ Anand, for guidance and suggestions on dealing with conflict resolutions and ways to strengthen our team. My approach is to engage all members and to work together as family of volunteers to serve others.

When does your term as president end?

This is my second term as club president and June 30th, 2017 I'll be signing off as president. Maybe I might be asked to serve another term, up through 2018, but that is to be decided by our members and the nominating committee. However, I will continue to serve my community and support my club in every way possible because, I am a volunteer and I am a Lion.

What do you plan on doing after your term as president?

My work is far from finished and after my tenure as club president, I will continue by engaging in my community service projects and help like-minded individuals who wish to do the same by connecting them with organizations, like our Lions Club, that allow them to impact their communities.