Local quilter commemorates Lions centennial with special quilt

June 7, 2017, will be the 100th anniversary of the Lions Clubs International. In Iowa, local clubs are gearing up to celebrate at the state convention and to raise funds for the Lions Foundation. One way clubs are doing that is by sponsoring special commemorative quilts to be auctioned off, like the one made by Jodi Kraft for the Clarion Lions.

Kraft, church secretary for the First United Methodist Church in Clarion, quilts as a part-time business. When asked if she would make a quilt, she started doing some research. “I knew there were several different avenues it could go,” she said. In the end, she decided the theme of the quilt would be to celebrate the different things Lions do to help the blind and those with visual impairments.

Helen Keller, activist and advocate for the blind, challenged the Lions club at their 1925 National Convention to be “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.” Today, Lions clubs organize the donation of eyeglasses, provide screenings for eye ailments, honor eye donations, and fund the training and purchase of guide dogs. These and other key Lions events and ideas are embroidered on the white portions of the quilt, which Jodi chose to represent light.

For the full story, see the April 27 edition of the Monitor.