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Eric Reese/Contributing Photographer Frank Jones, former president of the Andrews Lions Club, passes the gavel to newly inducted President Barbara El-Khouri on June 24 at Grandpa Charlie’s Restaurant.
Andrews – The Andrews Lions Club inducted all female officers, a first in the history of the club, at the June 24 meeting.
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Barbara El-Khouri of Andrews was inducted as president of the Andrews Lions Club. She is the daughter of the late Joe El-Khouri, who served as the District 31A Governor in 1971.
“I am honored to be following in my dad’s footsteps,” El-Khouri said. “He taught us all to be altruistic. It seems to be appropriate at this time since it was 50 years ago this month that dad was elected Lions Club district governor.”
Rhonda Eunice was inducted as vice president, Claudette Morgan as secretary and Betty Franks as treasurer. El-Khouri succeeds Frank Jones as president. This October will be the 70th anniversary of the Andrews Lions Club, which was founded by Dr. Charles Van Gorder.
“There were about 50-60 charter members,” Barbara El-Khouri said about the history. “A lot of the members were doctors and businessmen in the area.”
She said the club used to have a “ladies night,” where male members would invited their wives to come to the meetings with them. In the last 20 years, women have been allowed to join the Lions Club.
The El-Khouri family is well known in Andrews for their kind hearts and willingness to help others. The family moved to Andrews in 1955 and opened a dry-goods store. Seeing a need in the community, Joe El-Khouri would deduct cash from his register to give to people needing to buy groceries for their children.
In 1983, with the help of the Ministerial Association, Joe El-Khouri opened the first food pantry in a small 8-by-10-feet storage room in the building next to the Andrews Police Department. The pantry quickly grew and moved to the Andrews Community Center building, where he would haul food from MANNA in Asheville to Andrews.
In 1998, the Andrews Lions Club took over operation of the pantry, incorporated as Cherokee County Food Bank Inc. By 2010, the food bank was giving food to more than 6,000 local residents.
Barbara El-Khouri, a retired school teacher from Durham, moved back to Andrews in November 2010. She has been a volunteer at the Cherokee County Food Bank and a member of the Andrews Lions Club since 2011.
Juliana Aiken, a 2020 Andrews High School graduate, was also awarded the Student Volunteer Award for her dedication to helping at the food bank. Aiken is a first-year college student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
El-Khouri said Juliana has been volunteering since she was 7 years old, helping at the food bank and packing special boxes at Christmas.
“We wanted to present her with a trophy last year, but we were not able to do it because of COVID-19,” El-Khouri said. “She has already completed one year of college and she also received the Lions Club Scholarship.”
The Andrews Lions Club meets the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at Grandpa Charlie’s in Andrews. Their mission is to serve and it has remained the same since it was established in 1917, according to lionsclub.org.
“Our mission is to empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through Lions Club,” the website says.
The Andrews Lions Club is wanting to induct new members; anyone ages 18 and older can join. Teenagers are also invited to join the “Leo” Club for younger members.
The Andrews Lions
Club has a fundraiser food truck during Food Truck Fridays in Andrews from 5-8 p.m. on the second Friday of the month through September. The Lions Club also has an annual fundraiser with WCVP radio, where a member becomes spokesperson of the day. The Lions Club hasn’t been able to host the radio fundraiser in 2020-21 due to the coronavirus.