COMMUNITY & CLUBS:

Last night a crowd gathered at the Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club for the annual allocation meeting of the Costa Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club.

Club President Mike Scheafer presented checks totaling nearly $25,000 to a variety of local and Lions charities, including Southern California Lions Eye Institute, Lions Project LOOK, Lions 4L4 Sight and Hearing Foundation, Harbor Area Boys and Girls Club, Newport Harbor High Culinary Arts Program, Estancia High Baseball, Costa Mesa High Baseball, Costa Mesa American Little League, Lions 4L4 Hearing Committee, Youth Employment Service, Blind Children’s Learning Center, Costa Mesa Senior Center, OC Model Engineers Railroad, Australian Student Exchange Program, Sea Scouts, Lions Camp at Teresita Pines, Foundation for Junior Blind, Newport Mesa Schools Foundation, Lions Project Canine Companions for Independence, Lions in Sight, Pediatric Diabetes (PADRE), Guide Dogs for the Blind, UCI Lions Hearing Project, Wives Behind the Badge, Save Our Youth (SOY), Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, and Costa Mesa High Cheer Squad.

The funds given were raised at the 2008 Fish Fry and a number of the recipients helped at that event by donating their time and talents.

Scheafer reminds us that the 2009 Fish Fry will be May 30 and 31 at Lions Park.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS

Special Olympic members will benefit Thursday at the track meet at OCC from the volunteer services of a number of members of the Kiwanis Club of Costa Mesa who will help set up, time, measure, hug and do a number of other tasks, according to club President Jeff Dimsdale. The event begins at 8 a.m. and ends around the time of the clubs weekly meeting, where they will honor Estancia Zone students with the Eagle Pride Award.

LITERACY LUNCHEON

Newport Beach Public Library Literacy Services will be hosting a fundraising luncheon with Gina Nahai at 11:30 a.m. May 1 at the Radisson Hotel, 4545 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach.

Nahai is the best-selling author of four novels, including her latest work, “Caspian Rain,” which is a family drama and a historical work of fiction offering readers unique insight into the inner workings of Iranian society. “Caspian Rain,” a Los Angeles Times bestseller, was named One of the Best Books of the Year by the Chicago Tribune, and won the Persian Heritage Foundation’s Award.

Tickets for the luncheon, $75 per person, or $100 for a seat at the Author’s Table, can be purchased by calling (949) 717-3874. Ticket price includes luncheon, lecture and a copy of “Caspian Rain.” The author will also be available for a book signing before and after the lecture.

Proceeds from the event will help fund the Library’s Adult Literacy program, which serves more than 100 adult learners annually with free literacy instruction.

WORTH REPEATING…

Thought for the day, as provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport-Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council… “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.”

— H. Jackson Brown

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK

How are you giving back to your community? Help your community and the world through a service club!

For many, service club membership is an extension of our religious beliefs and congregation affiliation.

You are invited to attend a service club meeting this coming week to learn more about opportunity for service. Most clubs will buy your first meal for you as you get acquainted with them.

TODAY

7:30 a.m.: The 10-member Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club meets at Denny’s Restaurant, 290 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.

Noon: The 20-member Exchange Club of Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for presentation of the Book of Golden Deeds by Beverly Hall.

5:15 p.m.: The 15-member Rotary Club of Costa Mesa meets at the Metro Center at South Coast, 555 Anton Blvd., Suite 150. For more information, go to costamesarotary.org.

6 p.m.: The 65-member Rotary Club of Newport Balboa meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a program on the Newport Beach Public Library “Literacy Services.” For more information, visit www.newportbalboa.org.

THURSDAY

7 a.m.: The 20-member Costa Mesa Orange Coast Lions Club meets at Mimi’s Café.

Noon: The 50-member Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club meets at the Holiday Inn, Costa Mesa. Visit www.CostaMesaKiwanis.org.

The 45-member Kiwanis Club of Newport Beach-Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club. Visit www.newportbeachkiwanis.org.

The 85-member Rotary Club of Newport Irvine meets at the University Club at UCI. Visit www.ni-rotary.org.

The 95-member Exchange Club of Newport Harbor meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for a program by Bob Kinton, titled “Achieving the Challenge of Excellence.”

TUESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The 55-member Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club meets at Five Crowns Restaurant for a program by Russ Williams, passkeys Foundation, “Integrity’s Competitive Assets.” For more, go to www.newportbeachsunrise rotary.org.

6 p.m.: The Irvine New Generations Rotary Club meets at Tapas Restaurant, Newport Beach.

COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published Wednesdays. Send your service club’s meeting information by fax to (714) 921-8655 or by e-mail to jdeboom@aol.com.