May 15, 2024
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Joliet Noon Lions honored by Lions Club International for community impact

By Denise M. Baran-Unland
Members of the Joliet Noon Lions Clubs dine together at the Silver Spoon restaurant for their afternoon meeting on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, in Joliet. The Joliet Noon Lions Club, a community outreach organization, celebrated its 101st anniversary this year.

Members of the Joliet Noon Lions Clubs dine together at the Silver Spoon restaurant for their afternoon meeting on Thursday, Sept. 22, in Joliet. The Joliet Noon Lions Club, a community outreach organization, celebrated its 101st anniversary this year and was recently honored by Lions International for the club's community impact over the last year. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/Gary Middendorf)

Lions Club International recently honored the Joliet Noon Lions for the impact the organization has made to the Joliet community.

In 2022, the Joliet Noon Lions helped more than “430 persons served for sight and/or hearing, completing over 42 sight activities, donations over $14,000 in monetary donations, and over 10,000 pairs of used eyeglasses,” according to a written statement by Joliet Noon Lions member Mark Turk.

In December, the Joliet Noon Lions also held a “Socky1″ clothing collection to benefit Daybreak Center and the Spanish Community Center, both in Joliet.

Turk said they named the clothing collection Socky1 in honor of Turk’s sock puppet, which has become an informal club mascot.

“It all started when one member sent me a birthday card. The birthday card had a sock puppet on it,” Turk said. “To add more humor to it, the sock puppet in the card was named Socky. And so, to add a little more levity in the club, I brought an old sock and put it on my hand and that became Socky.”

In December 2022, the Joliet Noon Lions also held a “Socky1″ clothing collection to benefit Daybreak Center and the Spanish Community Center, both in Joliet. Lion Mark Turk said the Lions named the clothing collection “Socky1″ in honor of Turk’s sock puppet, which has become an informal club mascot.

In December 2022, the Joliet Noon Lions held a “Socky1″ clothing collection to benefit Daybreak Center and the Spanish Community Center, both in Joliet. Lion Mark Turk said the Lions named the clothing collection “Socky1″ in honor of Turk’s sock puppet, which has become an informal club mascot. (Photo courtesy of Joliet Noon Lions)

Turk said Lions member Pat Kaveney of Joliet then took the sock puppet home and sewed on some eyes.

So when the Lions talked initially hosting a sock collection, Turk told the group, “It’s really Socky who should be having the sock collection.” That expanded into donating other clothing people needed during the wintertime.

Between donations from general public and Lions members, the club was able to donate 56 winter hats, 22 pairs of winter gloves, two scarf sets, 22 pairs of socks, baby blankets and 21 pairs of underwear, Turk said.

The value was $1,000, Turk said, which he said was “pretty great,” considering the club has only 30 members and the inspiration came from a sock puppet.

Joliet Noon Lions Bobbi and John Joseph Honiotes pose with some of the winter clothing the Joliet Noon Lions collected for Daybreak Center and Spanish Community Center, both in Joliet.

Joliet Noon Lions' Bobbi and John Joseph Honiotes pose with some of the winter clothing the Joliet Noon Lions collected for the Daybreak Center and Spanish Community Center, both in Joliet. (Photo courtesy of Joliet Noon Lions)

For 101 years, Lions International had a presence in Joliet. Turk joined 35 years ago and stayed because “We do a lot of good work. We help a lot of people.”

[ Joliet Noon Lions still active after 101 years ]

The club’s main focus is to the blind and visually impaired of all ages, including people who can’t afford glasses and kids who struggle in school because they can’t see well, Turk said.

Through the years, the club has held free diabetic screenings, hearing screenings and vision screenings it also bought an eye screening machine to test the vision of students in Joliet-area schools, Turk said.

Meetings are held at noon on the first four Thursdays of the month at the Silver Spoon restaurant, 1601 W. Jefferson St. in Joliet. For information, call Turk at 815-922-4065.