Lions Club International is well represented in the small community of Discovery Bay with not one, but two very active clubs serving the community and other causes.

Because of its name, the Byron-Delta Lions is not as recognizable as the Discovery Bay Lions.

Although established over 12 years ago, the Byron-Delta Lions is a smaller club, and currently, all 60 members are women. This was not by design, but what some might consider serendipity.

You and your family might know of the Byron-Delta Lions without realizing it.

If you contribute food to the October food drive, you have helped the Byron-Delta Lions help a community food bank.

If you dropped your pennies in the Community Cents containers that local merchants displayed, you helped the Byron-Delta Lions collect over $2,000 toward the Discovery Bay Community Center.

If you attend a fashion show at the Discovery Bay Country Club in November, you have enjoyed a Byron-Delta Lions fund-raiser.

If you attend the Discovery Bay or Timber Point Elementary School Flag Day celebrations, and your child comes home with an American flag, you and your child have been touched by the patriotism of the Byron-Delta Lions.

East County parents of preschoolers might have been helped by the cadre of Byron-Delta Lions' highly trained eye screeners, who volunteer their time testing preschoolers vision and watching for amblyopia, a serious vision problem frequently missed by other means.

The Byron-Delta Lions helps local high school students hone their public speaking skills and win educational monetary awards via the Student Speakers Contest. The club encourages younger students to understand the value of worldwide peace through the Peace Poster Contest.

The Byron-Delta Lions provides holiday meals and desserts for the Pittsburg Blind Center, and supports Prevent Blindness of Northern California and Guide Dogs of the Desert. Club members clean thousands of donated eyeglasses annually, which are sent to sight-impaired people who cannot afford to buy eyeglasses.

The club collects used cell phones, which are donated to women and families in crises. It also holds an annual Baby Shower for which members bring gifts of new clothing and layette items, which the club donates to East County newborns whose families are struggling financially.

These are just a few of the groups that benefit from the volunteerism of the women of the Byron-Delta Lions.

In addition to their time spent with Lions Club projects, the dedicated members of the Byron-Delta Lions volunteer an average of 300 hours monthly to other charitable causes.

Clearly, the Byron-Delta Lions Club is small but mighty.

The club would like residents to find out more about its many activities, and invites those interested to attend (without obligation) a Friday morning meeting. Without becoming a member or attending meetings, people can still help the club help others by volunteering time, expertise, merchandise or gift certificates for fund-raising raffles.

Students seeking to satisfy their community hour requirements are welcome to help the club with its projects.

The motto of Lions Club International is "We Serve." Byron-Delta Lions proudly exemplifies the motto.

For information, call 634-7007.