{"id":103581,"date":"2026-07-15T09:45:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/103581\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T09:45:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:45:15","slug":"riverside-lions-are-taking-donations-for-lake-geneva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/103581\/","title":{"rendered":"Riverside Lions are taking donations for Lake Geneva"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the wake of storms that left\u00a0three children dead<\/a>\u00a0and wreaked havoc through the area of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, on Friday, July 3, the Riverside Lions Club is accepting donations that will help the Lake Geneva community recover.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had two disasters, if you will, that took place on that day. One was the boating tragedy, and the second was the storm that went through,\u201d said Bill Kingsley, the president of the Lake Geneva Lions Club. \u201cThe storm created a tremendous amount of damage, not only on Geneva Lake but also on Como Lake and some of the surrounding areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew Stinebrink, another member of the Lake Geneva Lions Club, spearheaded efforts after receiving a donation from a friend in Kenosha County. As the owner of\u00a0Stinebrink\u2019s\u00a0Piggly Wiggly, a local grocery store, he worked with the owners of Papa\u2019s Blue Spruce Resort, a restaurant and bar, to have each issue $50 gift cards that residents in need can use toward restocking their refrigerators and pantries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest area of need is the Lake Como community. That\u2019s where I live too, and it just got devastated. Trees\u00a0smashing\u00a0through living rooms,\u00a0smashing\u00a0through bathrooms, going\u00a0through people\u2019s windows. Some people had to evacuate their homes and stay elsewhere,\u201d Stinebrink told the Landmark. \u201cA lot of people lost everything they had in their fridge and freezer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stinebrink said the community has\u00a0benefitted\u00a0from an anonymous donor who saw posts about the initiatives online and bought $2,500 worth of $50 gift cards to have them available to people in need to\u00a0stock back\u00a0up on food.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ended up being\u00a0a really awesome\u00a0thing, that a lot of people came together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While recovery efforts have been underway in the ensuing weeks, with local Jaycees and other volunteers working to clean up the debris,\u00a0Stinebrink\u00a0and Kingsley said more donations will only help area residents get back on their feet.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s\u00a0where the Riverside Lions Club comes in. Alex Gallegos, longtime member and former president of the club, as well as a village trustee, told the Landmark he heard about the storms through social media on July 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started reaching out to some of my friends who live up there and have businesses up there to see what they could tell me. Some were without power. Some have pictures of some of the destruction that happened [near] Delavan [Lake] and other areas,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of our former Lions here put us in touch with the Lions Club up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the Riverside Lions Club is accepting monetary donations to send north to Lake Geneva. Gallegos said interested residents of Riverside or any of the surrounding communities can drop off checks at Riverside Foods or provide funds directly to members of the Lions Club, who will make sure it gets where it needs to.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know a Lion, go to a Lion, and we\u2019ll get those funds,\u201d he said. \u201cLions have a motto: \u2018Where there\u2019s a Lion, there\u2019s a need.\u2019 When we see\u00a0that people are\u00a0in need, we step up to help. Many of our own residents vacation up there or have friends up there.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0quite local.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Kingsley and\u00a0Stinebrink\u00a0said the Lake Geneva Lions Club is working to put together an emergency fund for the next time danger strikes so they can act more proactively than reactively, but they said all donations will go toward staunching the immediate needs of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0not going to clean this thing up here in the next few days. There\u2019s going to be a lingering, no pun intended, wake effect from this type of storm,\u201d Kingsley said. \u201cWe really appreciate not only all the concerns but all the contributions from the hardworking people down in the Brookfield-Riverside area and the community that are supporting the work that\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0doing up\u00a0here. Every little bit helps; it really does.\u201d<\/p>\n

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