“We were just blown away and also didn't know about it, so [we] were shocked.”
This is what Yevgeniya Tatarenko, the supervisor of the Roaring Morden Leos youth club, says about a prestigious award that it recently received from Lions International.
What is the Roaring Leos club?
The unique award goes to a club that, according to Tatarenko, is rooted in giving back to the Pembina Valley.
It’s the youth version of Morden’s Roaring Lions.
“[They] meet once a month to work on some of the projects or some of the fundraising events that bring together the community,” she says, adding that the group fundraises for organizations like South Central Cancer Resource and Genesis House.
“They are always here to make a difference in the community.”
Leo Service Project Award
Tatarenko says the honour received by the group is the Leo Service Project Award, which acknowledges a recent project that it executed — a fundraising puzzle night in support of local organizations.
Shannon Dueck, the district governor of District 5M13, which comprises all of Manitoba, shares about the award.
“This award is from our international president, Fabrício Olivieri, who is from Brazil,” she says. “He was at our multiple district convention in Bloomington, Minnesota at the end of April, and out of the 38 Leos clubs in our multiple district, which encompasses Minnesota and Northwest Ontario and Manitoba, he awarded one award to one Leos clubs and our Leos club in Morden was chosen.”
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For the Roaring Morden Leos, it’s a significant achievement.
“They were honoured to get this award for what they did,” says Tatarenko.
She says the group has become a shining example of what a Leos club can be.
The award presentation
When it comes to the award presentation, Angel Jain, the president of the Morden Roaring Leos, received it from Dueck on May 22nd.
The award was also accompanied by a video from Lions International.
“The looks on their faces when I played the video of me being presented their award was absolutely priceless,” says Dueck. “It was really cool.”
A ‘robust’ group of young people
For Dueck, the group deserves the recognition. It’s a special one.
“They are such a robust group of young people,” she says. “They're all newcomers to Canada ... and all they want to do is give back to the area that has given them so much since their families have moved here.”
In Dueck’s view, the Morden Roaring Leos are making a name for themselves through their community work.
“Not just in our local community, but in our multiple district and in Lions International itself,” she says. “Lions international is in over 200 countries and geographical areas, and every single convention [or meeting] that I go to, I just have to mention I'm from Morden and people know who our Leos are. They have made a name for themselves internationally for things that they're doing, which is amazing. I'm just so proud.”
In the end, Dueck believes that recognizing young people like the Leos is important for the community.
“Sometimes young people feel like they're forgotten or they're not worth anything, and these Leos and the other young people in our area — they're our future leaders. We need to recognize them,” she says.