Recent News, Events and Service

Just a few of our ongoing community projects include: 

• Deliver Christmas food baskets to those in need. 
• Collect used eyeglasses for distribution to those in need and recycling to continue funding our vision services projects. 
• Operate one of the only all-inclusive handicap playgrounds in the Knoxville area.
• Fund vision screening services in the community. We often partner with organizations such as Remote Area Medical (RAM). 
• Partner with local schools for childhood early vision screening events. 
• Garbage pickup on Oak Ridge Highway in Karns in partnership with the TN Adopt-A-Highway Program. 
• The Karns Lions Club Memorial Scholarship is awarded each year to a Karns High School senior.  
• Operate the Karns Pool (ramp handicap accessible). In addition to public swim, we partner with the non-Profit Knoxville Challenger Sports to provide weekly swim time for 100-150 children and young adults with handicaps or special needs at no cost to the organization.
• We partner with local daycares in the summer to provide swim time to up to 250 children a day. 
• Hold multiple community events throughout the year, including a Shrimp Boil, Luau and Wiener Roast.
• Provide the official Santa float annually in the Karns Christmas Parade. 
• Coordinate vision and hearing services to community members in need. 
• Partner with Operationinasmuch and other 12-N District Lions Clubs in East TN to package non-perishable meals that are distributed through through several local non-profits. 

District 12-N Lions Clubs of East TN, including the Karns Lions Club, support a number of partner non-profits with service hours and/or monetary support through club dues. 

•  Lions Volunteer Blind Industries, an agency providing rehabilitation services, employment and training opportunities for hundreds of blind East Tennesseans annually.
•  TN School for the Deaf, a state-operated school for children with hearing impairments located in Knoxville. Lions help fund personal needs for some students and the summer camp programs that are not state funded.
•  TN School for the Blind, state-operated school for visually impaired children located near Nashville. Lions fund the Boy and Girl Scout troops and provide $50.00 for each student at Christmas. 
•  Leader Dogs For the Blind, trains and provides guide dogs for the blind.
• East TN Lions Eye Bank, a Knoxville-based clearinghouse between persons donating their eyes after death and the recipients of corneal transplants. ETLEB has been ranked within the top ten in the world.
•  KidsSight Outreach, a partnership between TN Lions Charities and Vanderbilt University’s Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences to provide free vision screenings to the children of Tennessee between the ages of 12 and 72 months.  

The Karns Lions Club was charted in 1954 and participated in projects such as delivering Christmas baskets and cutting & delivering firewood for families in need. 

In 1957 built the first modern football field for Karns High School (the county couldn't afford to).  The club operated concessions at football games until the football complex debt was paid off. 

In 1964, Dr Harvey Coker, a charter member of the Karns Lions Club, established the East Tennessee Eye Bank. It is now one of the top Eye Banks in the country and is located at UT Medical Center.

In 1967 bought land that would become the Karns Lions Club Community Park. In 1969 the Karns Pool was built at a cost of $100,000 and paid for with members' personal loans (these were paid in full by 1976).

Donated community park land to the Karns Volunteer Fire Department in 1980. 

In 1987 started the "Skills For Adolescence" program in Karns Middle School. With funding & training from the Club, Knox County expanded the program to all middle schools in the county. 

When the new Karns High School was built, the Club helped install the press box & concessions stand. 

The Karns Lions Club is part of the Tennessee Lions Club District 12-N, which includes 24 counties in East TN.