Tammy Thomas From Camp Dogwood

Lion Tammy Thomas was born and raised in Sherrills Ford North Carolina just three miles from Camp Dogwood. Tammy was actively involved in volunteering with youth for many years as she served at her church as a youth leader and was actively involved with youth in County 4-H programs for many years.

Tammy became a member of the Sherrills Ford lions club where she now serves as club president. She is also a board member as well as district secretary and LCIF chair. lion Tammy has also served as club vice president, secretary and membership chair and at the district level she has served as zone chair, district secretary, LCIF chair, chair for Clinical Eye Research, Leo club liaison and Technology For The Blind. Tammy also serves on the Western North Carolina Lions board of directors as cabinet secretary and volunteer chair.

She recently completed her training to become a Certified Guiding Lion looks forward to working with her assigned clubs on rebuilding and moving them forward. And she is a decorated lion as well having received a Sid L Scruggs III Beacon of Hope Fellowship Lighthouse and Steps To Service, first and second level of the Lion Ambassador award as well as an International President Certificate Of Appreciation.

Lion Tammy is currently serving as Director at Camp Dogwood which is owned by the North Carolina Lions. She coordinates a summer camp program for the blind and visually impaired which provides each individuals with activities that have been adapted to accommodate the visual impairment without limiting the individual.

She started her presentation off by sharing a video with lots of clips and photos of people having a good time at Camp Dogwood. It really is a special place – especially for the blind and visually impaired guests. If you have not been there it is highly recommended. It’s the only that our guests actually get to spend a week where everything has been adapted to them instead of them needing to adapt to everything else around them. And they get to do all sorts of things that they would not normally be able to do (with supervision of course!). Activities range from boating and kayaking to miniature golf and beep ball to archery and target shooting with BB guns. They get such a thrill when they hear the BB hit the target!

The biggest need right now is for volunteers to help during the summer sessions. Tammy is having a very difficult time finding help to run the camp and we are in jeopardy of having to cancel a few sessions if we cannot get enough volunteers. The work is not difficult but it is extremely rewarding! Lions who volunteer get free room & board and three meals every day! So if you have some time please contact Tammy about volunteering. She can be reached by email at tammy@nclf.org.