Bolton’s Lions roar for the final time with hospital donation

By Rob Paul

About two years ago, the Lions Club of Bolton made the tough decision to call it quits due to dwindling membership. The remaining six members decided they would take the funds they had left and donate it to Headwaters Health Care Centre as a last hurrah.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything, and it delayed the donation from 2019 until just last week when they were finally able to meet and donate the money in a safe manner. 

“We shut down just before the pandemic because we had so few members and just couldn't function anymore,” said member Steve Derbyshire. “We've always donated money and so we decided to earmark the money for Headwaters. When the pandemic hit, we just didn't think it was the right time to do something with everything going on.”

When the Lions Club of Bolton members gathered on the evening of December 8 at Casamici's for dinner they handed out their last donation, a $6,934.36 jumbo-sized cheque to Danielle Gibb, Acting Executive Director at Headwaters Health Care Foundation.

“It's the perfect time because we have a donor matching donations right now and so the $6,900 is going to be doubled,” said Gibb. “All the money is going to go towards the hospital's needs, so we can't thank you guys enough. We're sorry it's the end of something wonderful, but we're so thankful for you.”

Although it took multiple years to actually get to make their final donation, it worked out perfect for the Lions Club of Bolton. They unknowingly set their donation up to be matched to have it make an even larger impact.

“Pete Stewart was our treasurer and just said, ‘I think it's about time we get rid of this money because we've been hanging onto it for almost two years!' With things opening up we decided now was a good time and when Danielle came down, she tells us that there's a donor in Mono Mills who's going to double any money coming in during the fundraising in November and December—we had no idea about this,” said Derbyshire. “So, we're able to double the money to almost $14,000, the timing worked out pretty well. We got together with all our wives, they always helped out so much, and wanted to celebrate one final time.”

The group decided their final donation would be towards Headwaters because they saw the hospital as the best place to have the most positive effect with everything going on right now in healthcare. 

“We'd given money to Headwaters before, right when they first opened up—I think we gave them $5,000 initially,” he said. “We've given them money a couple times and we've always been involved in different community organizations. We'd given to the Santa Fund, Caledon Meals on Wheels, and stuff like that. But with this being the last one, we thought we should do it for the hospital because they're going to need it.”

The Lions Club of Bolton was established in 1970, and many of the remaining members had spent years as members. Though it's emotional as it comes to an end, they were just happy to be able to make the Bolton community a little brighter over the decades. 

“Pete Stewart, Bill Frame, and Doug Carins had been in it for about 36 years, and I'd been in it about 33 years,” said Derbyshire. “Most of us grew up in Town—I can remember when Bolton was only 1,000 people, a four-way stop sign, and one cop in Town. With our history, we've always cared about the community and what we've done has always been for the community. It was always just a good thing to try and help in the community and look after things the best we could.”