The Lions Club of Bel Air celebrated its 39th Anniversary as a civil society organisation with an event at the Georgetown Club, where the guest of honour US Ambassador Brent Hardt highlighted the importance of civil society organisations and the value of their commitment to the development of their communities.
In his remarks, Hardt noted that “The Lions Club’s 39 years of action reflects an unremitting and unrelenting dedication to the cause of helping communities grow. This is precisely the sort of dedication that can be contagious. It is the sort of enthusiasm that can be responsible for bringing down barriers and affecting change,” a release from the US Embassy said.
According to the release, the Ambassador stressed how the dedication to performing acts of service has been doubly important in the city in the absence of local government elections in the country for 19 years. Hardt linked the lack of local government elections with the deteriorating state of the city’s surroundings. “One of the unfortunate consequences of the lack of effective and empowered local governance in Guyana has been the sad deterioration in the condition of Guyana’s once proud capital city,” he observed.
The release said that the Ambassador reaffirmed his commitment to doing all he can do to “restore the city’s shine,” which he noted was why he joined with diplomatic colleagues from the British High Commission, the Canadian High Commission, and the European Union Mission as well as Youth Challenge Guyana and Conservation International Guyana, to launch a campaign to raise public awareness, help educate the young people of Guyana on the importance of protecting the environment, and to encourage individual communities to take initiative and clean up their part of the city. He encouraged the Lions Club volunteers to join in supporting the ‘Guyana Shines’ programme and other related initiatives.
The President of the Bel Air Lions Club, Rae Seebarran expressed the Club’s interest in continuing the good rapport between the Lions and the US Embassy. He affirmed the Club’s interest in supporting ‘Guyana Shines’ and other ongoing efforts to clean up Georgetown, the release concluded.
