As the smell of freshly cooked chili filled the hallways of the Knights of Columbus Hall in Poplar Bluff, dozens of volunteers could be seen serving, preparing and packing chili for Tuesday’s election day fundraiser.
While the ballot may not have been packed this year, to go containers still were, lining work services as volunteers prepared for hundreds of deliveries.
According to Larry Kimbrow, the past district governor of the regional chapter, the Lions Club hosts an annual chili fundraiser every year.
“We have a delivery service for 10 or more orders,” Kimbrow said before 11:30 a.m. “We already had four drivers leave this morning with their vans full. Last night, we prepped everything and the girls from the Sierra Osage Center volunteered as well.”
Kimbrow added that the organization prepped over 1,000 bags to be ready for the fundraiser. The proceeds from the annual event go directly to the Lions Club and their vision program for adults and children.
“We provide the eyeglass exam and the eyeglasses if they need them,” Kimbrow said. “We can also refer people and help pay for their cataract surgery.”
He added the organization has also paid for additional costs such as hotel and transportation expenses associated with the vision program.
“In the past couple of years, we (Lions Club) spent over $22,000 on the Low Vision program,” Kimbrow explained. “It’s hard to turn anybody down that really needs vision assistance.”
Kimbrow knows that fact all too well and shared his own experience of not being able to afford glasses while attending school.
“We couldn’t afford glasses until I got into my freshmen year in high school, when the teachers finally said, hey, this guy needs a pair of glasses,” he shared.
Another part of the vision program is collecting eyeglasses which are then taken to Columbia, Missouri.
“We recycle the glasses, they sanitize them and then take them over to third-world countries,” Kimbrow added. “That is our major mission to why the Lions Club was even founded.”
Allen Payne, a Lions Club for 45 years, said for the past 10 years, the organization has used the Election Day Chili as an annual fundraiser.
“The Knights of Columbus have kind of partnered with us and provided the space,” he said. “We generally serve 1,000 to 1,200 bowls of chili every year.”
Payne added the strategy behind the fundraiser is that most people are active during Election Day.
“It’s always on that day,” Payne explained. “And it has worked out really well for us. Plus, the fact that Election Day is generally during the fall season of the year and people are hungry for chili. Our chef is Dennis Keeling and if you have never had any of it, you don’t want to leave here without some of it.”