Wilton Lions Club in downtown Wilton. Submitted photo

WILTON — This past year has been a difficult one for many organizations that count on fundraisers, like suppers, breakfasts and yard sales which as we all know came to an abrupt halt when the country realized we were dealing with a pandemic.

The Wilton Lions Club is one organization that has been affected by the cancellation of nearly every civic event or festival.

In a normal year, the club held a blueberry pancake breakfast at the Wilton Blueberry Festival. Enter COVID-19 and that festival was canceled. They help out each year with the Special Olympics another victim of COVID-19

As part of its service to the community the Lions Club has several community projects to support local children and schools through scholarships, recreation and mentoring. The organization helps and works with the Wilton Food Pantry With the fight against the pandemic still going on, Al Kaplan is optimistic that some of the events that didn’t happen during the last year will take place this year. They also are hoping to resume regular meetings in May, but are waiting on CDC guidelines.

“We don’t know what is going to happen, so we are not planning anything right now,” Kaplan said in a news release. He did want to mention that the Wilton Transfer Station has a box set up to collect bottles with deposits. “Every little bit helps,” he added.

As one bright spot, the Wilton Lions Club is pleased to announce that they have started to take hall rental reservations starting on May 1. So call now to reserve your date.

“It’s been a long hard year, so let’s plan your special events with your family and friends,” For more information, call Al Kaplan at 207-491-5996.