Charlene Henderson Champions Community Service Through Ocean-Ingleside Lions Club

The Ocean-Ingleside Lions Club’s Charlene Henderson is prepping to celebrate community service, the club’s 40th anniversary and Juneteenth.

For Henderson, who will become the club’s president in July, being a part of the Lions Club has been a family affair. Her parents, Melba and Ernest Henderson, joined the club in its early stages, recruiting Henderson and her sister Connie Bridgewater. Bridgewater eventually took over and enlisted her daughter Tawnisha Smith, running it until her unexpected death last August.

“We as individuals always have an opportunity to contribute, and we should never lose sight of that,” Henderson said. “People gather together for a cause, to make a difference, and we’re hoping to make a difference.”

The club has undergone a significant transformation over the years. Chartered in 1985 by the late Will Reno of Reno’s Barbershop in Ocean View, its initial 55 members met in person around the neighborhood, such as at I.T. Bookman Community Center. Today, the club has transitioned to Zoom meetings. However, the club’s dedication to serving the community is unchanged.

The club currently has seven members who are gearing up to host the club’s 40th anniversary and Juneteenth “Boots on the Ground” backyard barbecue on June 21 at the Mission Playground Clubhouse. The celebration will also pay tribute to Bridgewater.

Although it’s typically for club patrons, Henderson said members of the community can also enjoy the festivities, with tickets available for $45.

“I understand that it [the party] is a dance, but it also means being ready to go into action,” Henderson said. “We want to be visible and we want to be supportive.”

Henderson also asked that people who were club members between 1985 to now contact the club at 415-240-3293. Their motto: Where There's A Need, There's A Lion.

The Ingleside Light met with Henderson to learn more about the club’s decades of service.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What are some things the Ocean-Ingleside Lions Club has done?

Recently, what we've done is homeless “goodie bags,” where we go downtown on Mission in front of the food stamp office and we give out packages for men and women that contain toiletries, lotions, Covid test kits. Last year, we even gave out some little nice bags, actual bags that you could take and carry with you. We gave money for laundry, laundry soap, cup of noodles, pudding and things you could eat on the go. We’re very cognizant of the limitations that you have for eating things or whatever when you're homeless.

We also worked with City Eats, which is at SF State University. When you're a Lion, you can invite other clubs for your service project, and Connie invited other clubs. We worked with City Eat. We worked with Rise Against Hunger. There were about 60 people there, which was awesome. We put together packs for people in Southeast Asia.

We do a student speaker contest. The student speakers are from local clubs, and they have a competition. The winner gets $100, but it also puts them in the running for the whole district, so you would go up step by step. At the end, I believe there's a $10,000 scholarship, a $4,000 scholarship. It's for high school students. They have a yearly theme, and you don't even have to submit anything. You just have to say, “Oh, I want to participate in this.” It's a great opportunity, and we're trying to get the word out a little bit more about that in our area. We know the schools are busy. We know the schools have their own agendas and goals that they have to accomplish. However, we are just happy to have the students come in and they speak for, I think, five minutes. It's a great thing.

Do you have a favorite memory from your time with the club so far?

When they were first starting, oh my gosh! We used to meet at Reno's. Just people getting together, so that whole thing of establishing an organization is my favorite memory, and the Rise Against Hunger. That was awesome because it was just so well organized, and of course, people don't eat the same in every country, so we were packing together rice and vitamins. I think we did a thousand or something like that, I'm not sure, but that was my greatest memory. We were united because of a cause. There were no racial boundaries or barriers.

What encouraged you to stay with the club after all these years?

My sister's just stick-to-it-ness. My sister was just a great person. She was active in the Service Employees International Union Local 1021. She was one of the co-chairs of what's called COPE, which is the Committee on Political Education. She was a person who understood the importance of being Black and being visible and being able to participate. She did service at her church. I mean, she was just a service person, and she never gave up.

What can people look forward to with the 40th anniversary and Juneteenth celebration?

People can look forward to the installation. We just elected new officers. They're going to be installed. We're going to pay tribute to Connie, which basically will be pictures. I'm going to have this charter. We're going to eat and have fun.

It has been just members, but if people in the public want to come by, it's $45. If we have it, we'll feed you because that's what we do. We're just leaving it up to the hands of God. If they want to come, I would love to have them. I would love the community to come. Hopefully it's going to be fun. We're just going to do some line dancing or any type of dancing. Unfortunately, some key players aren't going to be able to make it, but we're going to have fun. We should have some membership applications. As long as it happens, I don't care how it happens.