Fruitland Lions Club Receives 2026 Tom Hendricks Community Service Award

In partnership with Muscatine Charities, Inc., we proudly presented the 2026 Tom Hendricks Community Service Award to the Fruitland Lions Club during our Annual Meeting on April 9^th.

Established in 2016 by Muscatine Charities, Inc., the Tom Hendricks Community Service Award honors an outstanding nonprofit organization that leverages volunteerism to meet critical community needs and enhance quality of life. The award is named in recognition of Tom Hendricks’ decades of dedicated service and leadership in the Muscatine community.

The Fruitland Lions Club was honored for their impactful volunteer work to deliver the Lions KidSight program across Muscatine County in collaboration with the Muscatine Lions Club. KidSight provides free early vision screenings for children as young as six months through kindergarten, helping detect vision issues at a stage when they are most treatable.

Since 2012, this collaborative effort has reached more than 8,000 children in the greater Muscatine area. Early detection through the program has proven critical, including one instance where a screening identified a brain tumor in a young child before symptoms had appeared.

“Programs like KidSight demonstrate the profound impact volunteer-driven efforts can have on community health and well-being,” said Rebecca Harden-Jones, Programs Manager at the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine. “The Fruitland Lions Club exemplifies the spirit of this award through its commitment to improving the lives of children in our region.”

In recognition of their service, the Fruitland Lions Club received a $10,000 grant to support their ongoing work.