Hope Lions Club officials Mark Ross and James Griffin illustrate ways of asking merchants for donations to the upcoming Lions Christmas Auction.

At the Hope Lions Club meeting today, Lions members learned from two veterans of the practice how best to approach area business owners for donations of items or money to the club’s annual Christmas auction December 1-3.

In a skit to illustrate methods of speaking to merchants about possibly donating an item or cash, Golden Membership Team Coordinator Mark Ross as the business owner and Lion Past President James Griffin as the Lion Club representative first portrayed an easy interaction, with Griffin explaining what the donation would do and what the Lions Club itself does.

“I represent the Hope Lions Club. Now we have been doing this auction for 73 years. We’ve got it down pretty good. This auction is truly what funds our operations for the year. We do a number of other things, such as fish fries, such as for homeless shelters and for our Christian Medical clinics, but that money goes to them. We work for free. So this auction is what funds all of our activities for the year. Now, what do we do with that money, you say?

"Well, first of all, we're going to buy some college scholarships. We're going to support Boys State and Girls state. We're going to support Scouting. And we're going to buy about 120 baskets of good, solid groceries that will be distributed just before Christmas to truly needy families.  We’re going to put money in somebody's hands that just had a house fire just before their insurance company probably knows about it.

"We buy eyeglasses. We’re the Lions so that's going to be a key note to buy eyeglasses. We do eye surgeries or surgeries for those who need surgery [for conditions] such as cataracts, or even [help provide] eyes for those who need prosthetic eyes after an accident. And we do this for free, if they do not have insurance. And we also have a life skills training center at Little Rock that teaches people to function after they have lost their sight.

"We support that. It teaches people how to function in society that truly they can make a living and pay taxes after they have gone blind. Now, last year, we raised $32,000. But we can't do it without you, because you have to give us something to sell. We’ll get it sold if you give it to us. But we’ve got to have buyers, too, and we do. There are always three or four hundred buyers that are there and we will tell those buyers what you gave us and [tell] them to shop with you later on.”

Ross told Griffin he would donate a pair of shoes. Griffin then explained that the Lions agent should ask how much the item is worth to provide some idea of where to start the bidding.

Having closed this transaction, Griffin would find the next owner a harder sell.  Ross pretended to be busy at the desk when Griffin said, “Hello, Mr. Ross. How are you?“

“I'm doing fine. I'm in a hurry. But what do you need?” Ross asked.

“Well, we are working our cards, these are our cards.” Griffin said, referring to cards Lions Club members carry with information about the merchant.

“Who’s we?” asked Ross.

“The Hope Lions Club. And we are the largest Lions Club in the state. And we have a function coming up called the Hope Lions Christmas auction. We have the Hope Colliseum ready. We sell these things from hamburgers to a car. So we have a wide variety of things. We are there three nights—”

“Like I say, I’m in a hurry. You’re going to have to make it real quick,” Ross said.

“You’re best to donate to us. We’re going to hold it up where it’s from. Go trade with that merchant.” Griffin said.

“What are you asking for, sir?” Ross said.

“We will take cash, but we will also take what you’ve got on your shelf that we can hold up and sell, because we have an audience that will buy a wide variety of the items.”

“Will $50 be okay?” Ross asked.

“That would be wonderful.”

“Who do I make this out to?”

“Hope Lions Club,” Griffin said.

Ross also asked whether he could have receipt for his tax return. “This has everything you need, right here,” Griffin said, explaining that the card he would be leaving would include the necessary 5013C number for making a claim on the donation.

“Is Bob next door doing this,” Ross asked.

At this, Debbie Marsh, the Lions Club Treasurer chimed in. “He’s giving a hundred.”

But plainly the points had been made to first-time agents for the Christmas auction.  Griffin also explained to Mark Ross, upon him brusquely asking “What do I get out of this?” that his name and the name of his business would be read out loud during the auction as a cash donor and the audience for the auction would hear it and think well of his reputation. “Cash talks,” Griffin said, explaining cash donors might have their name mentioned four or five times a night.

Other tips to agents were provided during the discussion. 

Lions Club International Fund Chairperson Don Freel asked for donations from the members to go to hurricane relief in Florida. “LCIF has a new meaning for this club,” he said. “Lions Club’s Improving Florida. They have a problem down there, a serious problem.” He explained that Lions Clubs in Florida would get the money. “They’re going to know who really really needs it, and they’ll pinch pennies as hard as they can to be able to give them as much as they can of the dollar.” Freel said that while “a nice amount has been donated last week, that amount has since been doubled.”

Earlier in the meeting, Terrie James; Staff Chair at University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Research and Extension, Hempstead County; spoke to remind the attendees that voter registration ends tomorrow and that on Hempstead County’s ballot will appear four ballot issues that voters will likely not have time to read and fully understand at the voting booth November 8. She referred voters to the 2022 Voter Guide, a publication by UA Division of Agriculture Research and Extension that explains each ballot measure and provides other essential information in nonpartisan fashion for voters.