Article by Gwen Jones, Department of Family Services
(Posted 2025 October)
For almost 75 years, the Fairfax Lions Club has served people through a wide variety of community service projects, fundraisers and donation drives. Fairfax Lions come from diverse backgrounds but are united in their commitment to kindness and making a difference in their community.
What is the Fairfax Lions Club?
The Fairfax Lions Club was chartered on February 21, 1951, sponsored by the Vienna Host Lions Club. At the time, it had 29 original members. Today, they have 55 members. Over the years, the club met at various restaurants in Fairfax, but in 2006, they began meeting in their current location, American Legion Post 177, located at 3939 Oak Street in the City of Fairfax. Lions Club International, founded in 1917, is one of the largest service organizations in the world, and the Fairfax Lions Club is one of 70 Lions Clubs in Northern Virginia. The motto of the Lions is “We Serve,” and its members are devoted to serving the community through charitable work.
Many Lions Club programs involve vision care and preventing blindness. Their support of this cause stems from June 30, 1925, when the famous disability rights advocate Helen Keller challenged Lions Clubs International to be “knights of the blind in a crusade against darkness.” Fairfax Lions Club founded the Lions Club Eye Clinic at the Joseph Willard Health Center in 1966. It was later renamed the Inova Lions Eye Clinic and relocated to Inova Fairfax Hospital. The clinic operates as the only free clinic in Northern Virginia offering advanced eye care and surgery to income-eligible uninsured adults.
Fairfax Lions Club members use portable screening equipment to conduct vision and hearing screenings of children to identify issues and provide referrals for professional care. The club collects and recycles approximately 10,000 pairs of donated eyeglasses every year. The glasses are taken to the Northern VA Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center for cleaning, repair and classification. The glasses are then distributed free of charge to people in need around the world. This includes guests of The Lamb Center, a shelter serving people experiencing homelessness, located in the City of Fairfax. The club also sponsors vision impaired students for scholastic grants given each year by the Virginia Lions Eye Institute Foundation and donates money to Canine Companions, an organization that provides service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities.
In addition to their work supporting vision care, Fairfax Lions Club supports many local causes. This includes donating books to Main Street Child Development Center to support early literacy, providing holiday food baskets for food insecure families, and supporting Food for Others, a food bank located in Fairfax. You can view the full list of their service programs at fairfaxlions.org/programs.
How You Can Support Fairfax Lions Club
Fairfax Lions Club welcomes new members. The only requirement to join is a desire to make a difference and help others. Membership dues are $50 per quarter with discounts available for students under 30 and family members. Guests are welcome to join the club at their twice monthly dinners, held on the first and third Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. Please email info@fairfaxlions.org in advance to let them know you are coming.
Other ways to support the club include donating your old eyeglasses and hearing aids. To find a donation location near you, visit fairfaxlions.org/donate-eyeglasses. Fairfax Lions Club also accepts financial donations as well as vehicle donations. Learn more at fairfaxlions.org.
The club hosts fundraisers throughout the year, including selling hot dogs at the City of Fairfax’s annual Independence Day Parade. However, their biggest fundraiser is their annual winter citrus sale. This winter, they plan to host two sales. Customers can place their orders online starting in November and pick up their orders Dec. 4-6, 2025, or March 5-7, 2026. Products available to order include fresh navel oranges, mandarins, ruby red grapefruit, and Whitley’s Virginia Peanuts. Fairfax Lions Club has created a fruit sale email distribution list where you can sign up to receive notifications, discounts, ordering and pickup instructions. Sign up at fairfaxlions.org/citrus-sale-notification.
Celebrating 75 Years
In 2026, Fairfax Lions Club will celebrate 75 years of serving their community. To recognize this milestone, the club is supporting two special projects. They plan to donate funds to the Inova Lions Eye Clinic to finish the recently renovated patient waiting area. For their second project, they will help fund a workforce center in “Beacon Landing,” a new, permanent supportive housing project near the Lamb Center. The workforce center will provide training, development activities and job placement for guests of the Lamb Center. Club members also plan to gather in March for a formal dinner to celebrate their anniversary.
To learn more about the Fairfax Lions Club and how you can support them, visit fairfaxlions.org.
This article is part of the Golden Gazette monthly newsletter which covers a variety of topics and community news concerning older adults and caregivers in Fairfax County. Are you new to the Golden Gazette? Don’t miss out on future newsletters! Subscribe to get the electronic or free printed version mailed to you. Have a suggestion for a topic? Share it in an email or call 703-324-GOLD (4653).