The Yachats Lions Club distributed $25,081 in charitable gifts and scholarships Tuesday night to 13 organizations and one person during its annual awards dinner.
The award amount – the group’s highest – came despite many of the club’s activities being curtailed or eliminated during the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to the awards, the other good news is that the club will resume its traditional all-you-can-eat breakfasts the Sunday of the Labor Day holiday. The annual crab feed next January should also return to an in-person gathering.
“Considering what we were doing, our fundraising exceeded our expectations dramatically,” said Kevin Yorks, the club’s vice president. “It’s been a weird year but we made a record amount of money even though we couldn’t do many of our activities.
The club’s thrift shop on West Fourth Street has been a mainstay of fundraising the past year. It is open noon to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.
The awards were presented at the Lion’s Hall Tuesday night in a dinner catered by the Drift Inn, Ona and Luna Sea restaurants.
Receiving $1,500 awards were: Yachats Youth and Family Activities Program, Friends of Yachats Library, Friends of the Little Log Church & Museum, Crestview Heights and Waldport Middle/High schools, Meals on Wheels, Waldport Food Share, Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District, and Camp Taloali for Otis wildfire survivors.
South Lincoln Ambulance received $1,000 and Dimes for Diabetes got $500.
Janelle Chavez, who works at Sea Aire Assisted Living in Yachats, received a $1,000 college scholarship.
The club also donated $6,880 to the Oregon Sight and Hearing Foundation in Portland.
