Darien Lions Prepare for Sweet Weekend

If anyone ever questioned whether pennies and nickels could make a big difference, just ask the Darien Lions Club.

Last year during its annual Candy Day fundraiser, the Lions collected a whopping $29,000 – the highest tally for a Lions club in Illinois. The Darien Lions have such a reputation for successful Candy Day collections, in fact, that the Lions of Illinois Foundation renamed the Candy Day award in their honor.

All the more remarkable, the club achieves that success by standing on street corners and placing cups on business counters, collecting its haul from spare change rustling around in pockets and glove compartments.

While last year’s grand total may have been immense, Chair Doug Barnes think they can surpass it.

“We always have the goal of doing better than the year before,” he said.

The Lions will be stationed at major intersections and in front of stores such as and from dawn to dusk on Friday and Saturday selling their famed rolls of mint and fruit-flavored candy.

Candy Day is one of the Lions Club’s two main annual fundraisers, Barnes said.

Most of the money raised goes to the state foundation to be distributed to various nonprofits, but a significant amount stays in Darien to help fund projects such as the Lions' annual program and local organizations including and SEASPAR.

“It’s really important for us to be able to do what we want to do and to help everyone that we want to help that we do well (during Candy Day),” Barnes said.

About 90 percent of the club’s members participate in Candy Day, with the younger members collecting cash on the streets and the older members helping behind the scenes. It’s common for family members to help out as well.

The club accepts donations beyond what they will collect on Friday and Saturday, said Tom Belczak. Some people take cans to work, where their companies offer to match the donations collected between Sept. 15 and Nov. 15.

Whether through the street corner collections or the matching donations, Barnes said that he hopes the Lions have another record haul this year.

“Way back when, someone said this is what we’re going to excel at,” he said. “I don’t want to be the guy in January or February telling the club we came in second.”