At startup, it cost $185 to fund each camper for three weeks, Baldwin says. Now the cost for the one- week program has jumped to $685 per kid. Along with board oversight of Camp Jack, Baldwin’s tenure with the Downtown San Diego Lions Club includes being a past president (in 2007). She effuses over the benefits of service clubs. “Rotary is more famous than Lions Club, but we tend to think we have more impact,” Baldwin says candidly. “Rotary would disagree with that. But we all have an impact. And the relationships you make are Lions Club International was established in 1916 in Chicago. At last count (during the pandemic), the service organization had more than 46,000 clubs and 1.4 million members in 200 countries around the world. In 2022, the Downtown San Diego Lions Club turned 100. Originally sponsored as a club by the Los Angeles branch, the Downtown San Diego Lions have since become the “host” to 10 other clubs in the San Diego region—in places like El Cajon, Point Loma and National City. Current Downtown San Diego Lions Club president Douglas Wahl says that since 1996, the organization has funded or granted more than $5.4 million to programs and initiatives, both their own and of other nonprofits. A retired Navy Commander, Wahl says he was special and keep you engaged.” History and mission pulled into the Lions while working locally as a Navy recruiter. A PTA member at Bay Park Elementary and Cub Scout leader, the one-time Eagle Scout says the Lions Club represents the best of community and public service. “Service is what makes this country great,” Wahl says. “I feel like it’s my duty to pay back this country. And Lions can be whatever you put into it.” The Downtown Lions meet twice a month. The organization owns the downtown Lions Community Manor, a 14-story building on Market Street that offers low-cost housing for seniors (there’s a four- year waitlist for units) and has a meeting room and a business office on the ground floor. The list of community services supported by the Lions Club is long and diverse. Two original club endowments were for sight and hearing assistance. That was sparked by an appearance at a 1925 Lions Club International
OPPOSITE PAGE: Making friends at Camp Jack. ABOVE: The San Diego Literacy Council at work. RIGHT: The downtown Lions Community Manor.
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