You know what I like most about belonging to a group like Lions? It's seeing a group of people come together for a common cause.

And it's not always about the work we do through our own club. At our September 25 meeting we heard about another great community-wide project from Sue Burge, the driving force behind Set for Success.

You may have been at the YMCA in August for the second annual Set for Success event, or seen photos in the paper. What a phenomenal effort this was, and will continue to be. Under the umbrella of Boothbay Region Community Resources, Set for Success distributed backpacks and school supplies to hundreds of kids in the region this past August.

The effort brought together parents, schools, churches, community organizations, town halls, corporate donors and other groups to help each child on the peninsula start the school year on equal footing.

It was truly amazing to hear about how Sue came up with this idea and how the community has embraced and supported it. The Lions have now committed to joining the effort and we look forward to next year's event.

To support this and our other charitable outreaches, the Lions have three new fundraising efforts in process. We launched two new raffles at this weeks' meeting. The first "Tom's Turkey Raffle" gives you a chance to win a $10 Hannaford gift card to buy a turkey, with dozens of chances to win. Tickets are just $1 and can be purchased from any Lion. We're also auctioning a fabulous quilt made by Susie Giles. Tickets for this raffle are also just $1 each and can be purchased from any Lion.

You'll also find Lions at the annual Fall Foliage Festival October 12-13, where we'll be selling Jay Andrews' world-famous fish chowder and a host of other goodies, including whoopee pies. Come on out for the leaves and crafts, stay for the food and charity.

We had a great turnout for our meeting, and we all dined in style on ham and macaroni and cheese prepared for us by Cathy Blake, salad from Jennifer Hyson and carrot cake from Margaret Branch. Fines were light (mostly going to the people wearing sweaters and those about to fly south for the winter) while several people chipped in thankful dollars. Phil Webster won the cheer raffle, and Alan Tilton won the 50/50 (which he donated back to the club).

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 9, when our guest speaker will be Boothbay Fire Chief Dick Spofford, who will give us a presentation about fire safety (October 6-12 is Fire Prevention Week).

The doors open at 5:30 p.m. for a social hour and we sit down for our meal and meeting at 6:30 p.m. We'd love to have you join us. For more information on the Boothbay Region Lions Club, please contact club president Mike Giles or any other Lion, find us on Facebook, or visit us online www.e-clubhouse.org/sites/boothbay/index.php.