The Bergvliet Lions Club installed its new president, Angela Niehaus, at the service organisation’s first meeting of the new fiscal year. The event took place at Sunny Skies Creche in Meadowridge.
Several officers from Lions District 410W attended the installation. Zone Chair Ian Grove, Global Extension Team Leader Heather Lee, District Chair for Marketing Elisa Metz and District Chair for Environment Rory Stier were present. Furthermore, Stier also serves as the Guiding Lion for the club.
A legacy of service
District 410W covers the Western and Northern Cape as well as Namibia, with 55 chartered clubs and about 900 members.
Lions Clubs International, founded in 1917, is the world’s largest service club organisation, with 1.4 million members in more than 200 countries. Its motto is “We Serve”.
The first Lions club in South Africa was chartered in 1957. The Bergvliet club, founded a year later, is one of the earliest in the country. For nearly seven decades, it has served the community through a range of outreach initiatives. Consequently, the presence of district officers at the installation reflected the club’s standing within the broader Lions network.
A leader with deep roots
While living in Somerset, Niehaus joined Lions in 1993. She decided to join after seeing the Pinelands Lions Club selling boerewors rolls at a local mall.
“I wanted to be part of the community, and it was a great way to meet people,” she said.
Niehaus has served as club president four times, secretary for many years and District Chair for Environment for three years. As a result, she brings hands-on community experience to her new role.
She is a regular supporter of the vegetable garden at Rosedon, a residential facility in Rondebosch East that caters for 45 adults with cerebral palsy. Residents tend the garden and harvest crops for their own use. Meanwhile, Niehaus ensures the raised beds donated by the club remain in good order.
Plans for the year ahead
The club currently has just four members, but several interested parties have committed to joining. Niehaus’s vision is to grow the club to at least 10 members and become a recognisable entity in the community.
She wants the club to serve in all eight pillars of Lionism: childhood cancer, diabetes, disaster relief, environment, humanitarian, hunger, vision and youth.
Planned projects include food collections, soup kitchens, establishing food gardens at local schools and selling bee houses to support crop pollination. In addition, the club runs bingo sessions at old age homes and supports various non-governmental organisations. The club meets on the third Wednesday of every month at 19:00 at Sunny Skies Creche in Meadowridge.
“We would like to invite anyone wanting to make a difference in our community to do so,” Niehaus said. For more details, interested parties can contact the club at bergvlietlionclub@gmail.com or on 072 741 7150
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