Lion’s share of fundraising effort

When the Redfern-Waterloo Lions Club was chartered in 2007, it was the product of six stormy months of resistance. “Everybody, even some people very high up in the Lions Club, said, ‘This will never work; you will never get this up and running,’” Mr Lanzky says. “That’s the worst thing anybody could say to me. Even when I was young, if someone said I couldn’t climb that tree, I’d be up there in five minutes.”

With thousands of Lions from all over the world converging on Sydney in June for the 93rd International Conference, the Redfern-Waterloo Club will be taking a leading role in ensuring that there is a strong Indigenous component to the festivities. By enlivening the international network of the “Lions Family”, Mr Lanzky was able to organise for the International Vice President of Lions International to meet with Tribal Warrior’s Chairperson, Shane Phillips.

“[The Vice President] interviewed some of the participants, who were reformed drug addicts, alcoholics and things like that. He just had tears in his eyes. Afterwards, he said ‘I’m going back to Chicago next week, and I’m going to see if I can get you some money.’” Within a week, $10,000 had been donated to the cause, sponsoring three young people for the program.

“$10,000 is not that much money,” Mr Lanzky concedes. “But if that can make one person get off drugs and get a new start in life, then it’s worth $1 million in my opinion.”

There is a certain satisfaction for Mr Lanzky in knowing that whatever money is collected will pass back into the community, without travelling through several levels of bureaucracy. “There are a lot of little organisations around Redfern. And they all have one thing in common: they’ve got no money.”

Photo: Andrew Collis - Redfern-Waterloo Lions Membership Chairperson John Lanzky 

Source: South Sydney Herald February 2010 www.southsydneyherald.com.au