History
Appleton Noon Lions Club
P O Box 762
Appleton, WI 54912
Sept. 2021
PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
LOAN LOCKER IN FOX VALLEY, WISCONSIN
Current Situation:
The Larsen-Winchester Lions Club has operated a medical equipment loan locker since 1984 (38 years). This loan locker serves communities from several counties including Outagamie, Winnebago and Calumet. The club has collected over one million dollars’ worth of new and used medical equipment either by donation or purchase and currently loans out an average of $550,000 of equipment annually to over 2000 customers. This is a highly successful and much needed community service. In discussion with Larsen-Winchester Club leaders, we learned that for 16 years they have been looking for another Lions Club to partner with them to provide a satellite medical equipment loan locker. Reasons for a satellite loan locker include:
People travel up to 25 miles (50 miles roundtrip) to the current site
Limited hours: Tuesday 9-11 am and Saturday 9-11 am
Larsen-Winchester site is at maximum capacity for equipment storage
There are limited alternate resources for free medical equipment in the area
Solution/Opportunity/Benefit:
By establishing a medical equipment locker in the Fox Valley, we could:
Reduce travel time for residents living in Outagamie and Calumet counties
Increase available hours of operation for access to needed medical equipment
Potentially expand service area to meet greater need
Create partnership opportunities on this project with other Lions Clubs. Interest in pursuing the medical loan locker project as an interclub project has been confirmed with the Neenah, Greenville Men’s, Greenville Women’s, Grand Chute, Appleton Evening, Sherwood, Freedom, Heart of the Valley and Kaukauna Lions Clubs.
Our proposal:
Establish a medical equipment loan locker in the Fox Valley that would carry the top most requested items, such as: canes, walkers, wheel chairs, shower chairs, and four wheel rollators. We would complement the Larsen-Winchester schedule by opening 2 days a week for 2 hours. The loan locker would be staffed by all participating Lions Club Members, and other volunteers.
Many Thanks to Lion Daphne Kennett for raising the idea. A special thanks also to Lions Carol Jansen, Sue Jungen, Gaye Tassoul and John Franger and the team spirit from all of our 10 participating clubs for taking Daphne's idea and turning it into a reality.