Saturday 7 March 2026: Bunnings Sausage Sizzle
Bunnings offer voluntary groups the option of manning their sausage sizzle by the main entrance. We took it for a day to raise funds for the Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation (ALCCRF). It was a dull day with lots of rain but we still sold around 600 sausages and raised almost $2,000 for this worthy cause. We thank Bunnings for giving us the opportunity to do this.
This was part of our contribution to the Australian Lions Biggest BBQ, which is an annual fundraising event undertaken by many of the 1,200 Clubs across the country.
Since 1996, Lions Australia have shown outstanding commitment contributing over $12 million dollars to childhood cancer research. This effort has resulted in, amongst other things, safer and more effective blood stem cell transportation for leukaemia patients following chemotherapy which can lead to shorter hospitalisation and more rapid recovery. Lions have done a lot but the job is not over because we believe every child has the right to a healthy life.
The Australian Lions Childhood Cancer Research Foundation was officially established in 2009 with the prime focus being to increase survival rates of childhood cancer by supporting cancer research efforts not just here in Australia, but around the world..
Friday 20 February 2026: It’ll Take a Tribe
It’ll Take a Tribe is a charity that supports parents and carers doing it tough by providing free birthday gifts and cakes for their children. They also offer essential items-food and clothing to families in need — because no one should face hardship alone.
We consider them to be a very worthwhile charity so we bought $500-worth of toys from Big W and donated them to It’ll Take a Tribe. Big W kindly added even more toys.
Tuesday 17 February 2026: Youth of the Year
The Lions Youth of the Year program has a proud history in encouraging and fostering leadership skills in Australian students approaching the end of their high school years.
By emphasising qualities like contribution to the community and school, public speaking, academic skills, sporting and cultural involvement, Youth of the Year aims to bring forth the next generation of outstanding young Australians.
We invited entries from years 10 and 11 of various schools and from them six contestants were shortlisted. Each contestant had to give a two-minute spontaneous response to two questions for which they had no time to prepare. They then had to give a five-minute talk on a subject of their choice. The audience of about 70 were amazed at the ability of these youngsters. They gave talks on a variety of subjects, ranging from saving koalas to the impact of AI.
The event was compered by the organiser, Lion Steve Whitter, assisted by three judges:
- Councillor Amelia Lorentson- Noosa Council
- Julie Ainscough – President of Noosa Women’s Shed
- Craig (Burts) Burton- General Manager Noosa Heads Surf Lifesaving Club Inc.
The judges had the difficult task of choosing an overall winner and a public speaking winner. However everyone agreed that all six contestants were winners!
Photos and video courtesy of LensArt
Alexander Nade, St Andrews
Lachlan Parnel - Sunshine Beach
Madeleine Stevens - Good Shepherd
Ava Jorge - St Andrews
Mathius van Velzen - Good Shepherd
Priya Rogers - Sunshine Beach
Alex Von Homeyer gave an inspirational talk on her year since winning last year's Youth of the Year
The contestants with the organiser, Steve Whitter
They were all winners, but the judges voted Madeleine Stevens as the Overall Winner and Ava Jorge as Public Speaking Winner. Certificates were awarded by Lola McDonald
Monday 26 January 2026: Australia Day
Every year we organise and run the Australia Day celebration on behalf of Noosa Council. It’s free and there’s a full day’s entertainment and an array of food vendors (including our sausage sizzle). There’s fun for the kids, with stalls including facepainting and rock climbing. It’s held in Lions Park, Gympie Terrace, right next to the waterside so it’s a lovely venue for a relaxing day out.
Photos and video courtesy of LensArt
January 2026: Car Parking in Noosa Heads Lions Park
Many years ago our members helped Noosa Council with the development of a recreation area at Noosa Heads. In recognition of our help the council named it “Noosa Heads Lions Park”. During peak holiday periods we are allowed to open it for car parking to alleviate the shortage of parking spaces in Noosa. We charge the public for parking and all funds raised go to our charity account.
This year was no exception and we parked 6,000 cars over the holiday period! Our members spent a total of well over 200 man-hours planning and marshalling, earning a total of $53,000 for our charity account.
January 2026: Four Wheel Drive Wheelchair for Becs
Rebecca contacted us to say that she is active but comfined to a wheelchair which means she was stuck on the boardwalk -watching from afar as her friends and her son walk on the beach. Her son has been involved in Disability Surfing and also Surfers Healing and Rebecca could not join the spectators and other families at the shoreline.
We considered this to be a very justified need so with the help of Australian Lions Foundation we purchased a second-hand 4-wheel drive wheelchair for her. This has give her new life to be able to enjoy days on the beach like all other Aussies.
She was so grateful that she is now joining Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club so she can help other people in need
Photos and video courtesy of LensArt
Sunday 7 December 2025: Tewantin Christmas Carnival
Tewantin Noosa RSL organised their annual Christmas Carnival on 7 December in the RSL Memorial Park. There was live music all evening, with carol singing and fireworks. We were there with our burger van to provide sustenance to the crowd and earn a little income for our charity account.
December 2026: Santa’s Classy Helpers
Santa’s Classy Helpers was set up 10 years ago by Lorraine Kenway to support underprivileged families at Christmas. They do this by collecting food, and Christmas presents during the year, then opening a free market where each family can choose whatever they want and fill a supermarket trolley. In total they supported 640 families (all only invited by referral) and over 2000 children.
We helped by providing a free sausage sizzle with sausages kindly donated by Coles Peregian Springs. Over 450 sausages helped keep energy levels up and spirits high. We were also busy with rubbish collection. We filled four skips with discarded packing materials.
We love being involved in this special event and thank Lorraine and her team again for bringing us all together to share the true joy of Christmas
