Hoevelaken
Hoevelaken is an attractive village situated close the geographic centre of Holland with around 10.000 inhabitants. It is located close to two of the major highways crossing through Holland (A1 and A28) which ensures good accessibility. Major cities in "The Randstad" like Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht as well as Schiphol Airport can be reached within 30 to 60 minutes and most locations in Holland are within a 2 hours reach. The beautiful medieval city of Amersfoort is right next door! The village boast an excellent 5 star hotel "The Klepperman" where the Lions Club Hoevelaken meets once a month, and also has an attractive shopping centre and various nice restaurants.
Nature wise Hoevelaken has much to offer: A beautiful forest right next to the village and very attractive landscapes in the immediate surrounding. In addition many attractive nature projects are within cycling reach. Since 2000 Hoevelaken forms part of the Nijkerk community.
Lions Club Hoevelaken
The club was established in 1980 and received it's charter on 2 may 1981. It was sponsored by the neighbouring Lions Club Eemland. It now has around 30 members, most of whom are from the local community. Friendship for sure is the most binding and driving element in our club. As with many clubs, aging is an issue that also confronts us. Our focus for new members is on a younger generation so that the viability and continuity remains ensured.
Activities
Over the years we have focussed on two types of activities:
- Fundraising
- Socializing projects for the local community
For fundraising we have initiated many different activities like annual Bingo events (17 years on a row!), Antique fairs, Sponsor dinners and Christmas Card sales coupled with own stamps and local Christmas mail distribution.
In respect to the socializing projects we organize an annual cycling tour in the neighbourhood of Hoevelaken, have set in motion an annual garden show and also organize a local new year's reception for the whole community in combination with a historical photo exhibition.
Projects
Most of the projects initiated have a local affinity, although we have over the years also supported various international projects. The biggest activity that has spanned several years has been support of an orphanage in Haiti where we amongst others took care of the refurbishing of the main building, building a school wing with six classrooms and financing the replacement of the old school bus and utility truck. Other Dutch Lions Clubs have supported educational grants as follow up to our actions. The local affinity towards this project was a Hoevelaken family that had adopted four children from this orphanage. After the desasterous earthquake in 2010 we helped in establishing a Children's Village close to the capital Porte au Prince to repalce the old orphanage building that was badly damaged.
Other projects included establishing of a Historical Society in Hoevelaken, supporting many local initiatives for old age care and support, initiating various projects for the local youth and supporting many other general activities in our village.