Humanitarian of the Year

The East Haddam Community Lions Club named East Haddam Resident Craig Mansfield as its

Humanitarian of the Year for his dedicated service to the town.

Craig was honored at a Lions District 23 dinner and is pictured above with members of the East Haddam Community Lions Club who also attended.  Please join us in thanking Craig for his dedication to East Haddam.

Community Lions Applauded for

Supporting Our Youth

Excerpt from the East Haddam Youth & Family Services Winter Newsletter

Healthy Communities-Healthy Youth

The term “Developmental Assets” is not new to our community. Assets represent developmental building blocks that are essential for all children and youth. We can think of Developmental Assets as external experiences in the home, school, peer group and community that support and nurture young people and the internal values, attitudes, and competencies that work together to help them become healthy, independent and successful young adults.

A 2010 survey of our youth, grades 7 through 12, indicated that 14% of them report fewer than 10 assets in their lives, 13% report between 30 and 40 assets, with the majority reporting between 10 and 30 assets.  As a community, we can draw upon the inherent strengths of our youth and adults to increase assets in young people.

We can:

• Give them adequate adult support through positive intergenerational relationships;
• Provide meaningful leadership and community involvement opportunities;
• Engage them in youth-serving programs;
• Provide consistent and well-defined behavioral boundaries and guidelines;
• Help them connect to our community; and
• Create opportunities to develop social competencies and form positive values.

One recent example of how these principles are being supported in East Haddam is through the Lions and Community Lions who recently began a LEO Club (Leadership, Equality, Opportunity) for youth ages 12-18.  This group provides new and exciting volunteer opportunities for young leaders who work to complete activities in partnership with adult members. The LEO Club provides an opportunity for youth to contribute to activities as responsible members of the community.

Two New Members

Two new members were inducted at one of our recent business meetings.  The East Haddam Community Lions Club welcomes Susan Pagnano and Shirley Gallagher to the club!