René Benjamin; a proud Lions president

René Benjamin has been elected as the Wilro Park Lions Club’s President. René has always had a passion for helping the community and explained how she grew up as an only child and that during those years she would have often been categorised as an introvert.

“I am not sure where that actually changed and I became an extrovert,” chuckled René, as she reminisced. She elaborated on her previous experiences explaining how she worked for the SABC’s sports department on and off camera and how working on the Rugby World Cup all those years ago helped her come out of her shell.

“I started to learn how to handle different people and realised that the way to help someone is to meet people where they are and find out what they need,” she said.

She went on to say that the only reason anyone should ever look down on someone else is to offer them a hand to get up.

As members of the Lions Club need to be invited to join, René was invited to the club by Sandy van Heerden.

“When I look at Sandy and what she does for the club, the quote ‘A lion roars with pride’ just fits perfectly,” René added fondly.

She explained that her mom used to be the most hospitable and endearing woman who never said no when faced with a situation where she could help someone.

“I think I got that gene from her; to help people,” pondered René as she explained that her time with the club has taught her that most people will do something for someone which they think that person needs, rather than asking the person what they really need and helping with that.

“My theme for the year is simply ‘dignity through service’. People who are asking for help are not doing so lightly, it takes immense strength to stand up and say ‘I need help’. For this year, I hope to give people dignity through the services given by the club. People are going through a difficult time and by giving them what they need with respect and dignity we can have a positive impact on their life.”

She elaborated that the club’s eye clinic in Roodepoort North, which is part of a project called See the Change, allows residents to go to the clinic and get a basic eye test for free.

This will in turn allow the volunteers at the clinic to refer those who need glasses to an optometrist in the area working with the Lions.

“A pair of cheap reading glasses from your local pharmacy could mean a world of difference to a person. It costs you R60 to buy one, and it is easily accessible if you go looking for one, but most people might not realise that they need one and would rather spend that R60 on food for the family than buy something for themselves.

“We want to be able to give them the glasses, it is not a permanent solution, but it might just change their life for the better in the meantime.”

She explained how the impact of a small act of kindness can snowball into something much bigger than you expected when done with the right intentions.

“We elect a new president each year to allow new ideas and growth into our club, if the same person stayed president then the club will stay the same, never growing,” Sandy explained.

René elaborated by saying they constantly work on keeping the club both relevant but also balanced between the new and old.

“We want to create a synergy between the youth and the older generations who, for example, still like to fill in forms by hand rather than complete a Google doc,” added Sandy.

“This year I hope to set the foundation for another 37 years of the same passion and drive for the Wilro Park Lions Club,” concluded René.