Happy Holidays from the Yosemite Lions Club!

Wishing you the happiest of new years, we also want to thank you wholeheartedly for participating in our events and fundraisers to benefit the Yosemite community throughout 2012. This year's holiday tree and wreath fundraiser sold five trees and six wreaths online with $80 in proceeds going to the club.  Trees and wreaths are shipped free of charge after purchase directly to your home. Neatly packed in cardboard boxes, they arrive fresh and fragrant, and trees are securely mounted to a stand right inside the box.

We appreciate the support and hope that you will consider buying trees and wreaths through the club's online program with Dutchman Tree Farms for the holiday season in 2013.

Thanks for the Tacos and Holiday Fundraiser: Trees and Wreaths For Sale!

Each year the Yosemite Lions Club hosts a holiday fundraiser selling trees and wreaths online and a portion of the proceeds go to support our club. By partnering with Dutchman Tree Farms in Michigan, we receive $10.00 for every tree and $5.00 for every wreath sold. The best part is that these trees or wreaths are then shipped FREE directly to your home. There are several trees to choose from and the wreath comes with a big red bow. You can skip the trip to the tree lot or send a great wreath gift and support a good cause all at the same time!

Please consider our fundraiser - you can be anywhere to purchase and they will ship anywhere in the U.S. Check it out at the following link:

http://dutchmantreefarms.com/organization/YLCCA

You can place an order anytime between now and December 11th to have holiday greenery at your door before the Christmas holiday - you can even schedule a delivery for a specific date.

Yosemite Lions Club's annual fall blood drive successfully collected 54 pints of blood on October 24th in El Portal. In the words of Diane Stewart, club volunteer: "We had 64 potential donors with 10 deferrals, for a total of 54 collected pints of precious blood. New donors and faithful friends, thank you for your generosity--your gift saves lives!"

In other fundraising news, the Yosemite Lions Club annual Mosquito Festival, re-imagined this year as El Mosquito Fiesta, raised $800 for the Yosemite community. On October 25th at the Curry Village Community Center in Yosemite Valley, we served 75 plates of delicious Mexican food to hungry diners that included many new faces we haven't seen at club events before. Many, many thanks to Maria La Veaga for preparing the Mexican feast - her reputation for Mexican food contributed to the success of this event. Event chair and Lions Club Treasurer Brett Archer worked hard to present a new twist on a long-time annual event, providing club exposure for an entirely different part of the Yosemite community. Brett also enlisted many volunteers to assist the club with this event and we thank them wholeheartedly! We worked hard and had fun, and we hope to see these new faces at upcoming YLC events. 

Treasurer Brett is ready to serve some food

President Kym is ready to collect some money 

Happy diners in the CV Community Center

Brett and Maria, the Queen of Mexican Cuisine!

Volunteer Kurt and Club Member Mike

Looking Forward to Fundraising in 2012 (with a rewind to 2011)

We're heading towards spring here in Yosemite, though we really haven't had much of a winter!  Before winter came tiptoeing to the Sierra, the Yosemite Lions Club held another successful fall blood drive in El Portal at the community center.  Lions Club Member and blood drive coordinator Bill Thomas arranged once again for suitable decor and snacks for the annual October event, along with his ever-faithful supporter and Lions Club Member Diane Stewart.  Our blood drive marketing savvy has increased - we announced the drive in the Mariposa Gazette.  In previous years, the blood drive operation was set up inside the community center.  This year the Central California Blood Center's Bloodmobile was parked just outside, making the community center available for snacks and socializing with donors.  Every donor receives a free t-shirt, along with complimentary orange juice and sugary snacks to reset blood sugar levels after donating.  Thanks goes to the Yosemite and El Portal communities for making the blood drive a success - we appreciate your support!

Diane and Bill at the blood drive

Central California Blood Bank Letter Fall 2012 We added a new fundraising opportunity in 2011, one we hope will become a new tradition in the Yosemite community.  Every winter holiday season, the Yosemite Lions Club sells holiday trees and wreaths in front of the Village Store in Yosemite Valley.  This year we partnered with a tree farm in Michigan - Dutchmann Tree Farms - that provides online fundraising opportunities for non-profit organizations.  By ordering a tree or wreath online from Dutchmann, the Yosemite Lions Club received a portion of the proceeds to raise funds for community projects.  We raised just over $100 with this opportunity and everyone who ordered was very pleased with their tree or wreath.  We hope to spread the word about this great opportunity since purchasing a holiday tree and having it delivered to Yosemite with absolutely NO SHIPPING FEES seemed like a holiday gift in itself!  We'd like to thank Dutchmann Tree Farms for helping us help the Yosemite community.

After everyone took trips to the High Sierra in December and January due to the lack of snow, we realized that El Portal's Spring Fling is just around the corner in April.  The Yosemite Lions Club annually hosts a fundraising pancake breakfast at this event and we hope to have more details soon.  Soon after Spring Fling, the club will be sponsoring the Yosemite Hiking for a Cure team for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life fundraiser held in Mariposa on May 19, 2012.  Want to join our team and help fight cancer?  Check out our Team Page for details and if you can't join, consider donating to this worthy cause.

As always, we look forward to our summer fundraising events, the Mosquito Festival in Yosemite Valley and the Golf Tournament in Wawona.  If you've attended these events and have ideas or fond memories, we'd love to hear from you!  Don't forget to find us and "like" us on facebook, too.

Buy a Holiday Tree from Yosemite Lions Club and have it shipped to your home FREE!

This holiday season we have a new way to spread cheer and raise funds for the Yosemite Lions Club with an online source that sells holiday trees and wreaths with FREE shipping!  Dutchman Tree Farms offers the green2green fundraising program that allows non-profit organizations to benefit from sales of trees and wreaths at no cost to the organization.  We are registered with the green2green program and will receive $10 for each tree and $5 for each wreath sold.  Dutchman starts taking orders on October 1st with a deadline of December 15th, where you choose your ship date from now until December.  Shipping details will be included with your order.

Items available:

Cut Fraser Fir 6-7 ft   $64.95

Cut Table Top Tree 3-4 ft  $39.95

Decorated Wreath 22"  $34.95

To order, visit the Dutchman Tree Farms website at:

www.dutchmantreefarms.com and use the code YLCCA on the green2green page, or use this direct link:

http://www.dutchmantreefarms.com/organization/YLCCA

Live container trees are also shown but they cannot be shipped to California.  You will find these prices to be competitive with local tree lots and the free shipping makes this an attractive option for Yosemite community dwellers.  Keep in mind that anyone can order through the website, not just the Yosemite community, so please pass the link and info along to anyone who may be interested in funding a good cause - including out-of-state family and friends (who may be able to order live container trees according to their state regulations).  Now go out and spread some holiday cheer!