Members of the Ballard Lions have been busy organizing their Golden Ears fundraiser on Oct. 5 and 6, and starting a new service club for local high school students.

While the Golden Ears Days take place annually, for the very first time, the Ballard Lions have started a Leo Club at Ballard High School.

With Lions Club membership peaking at 40, the club is targeting a younger audience. Members spent time meeting with parents and students this summer to talk about being involved in the new Leo Club.

The goals of the Leo Club include: developing leadership skills through organizing, managing time and motivating peers; providing experience and cooperation through community service; and giving young people the opportunity to excel, develop positive character traits and receiving recognition for their contributions to the community.

This is the 50th anniversary of the Lions Club International Leo Club Program. There are 5,500 Leo Clubs in more than 130 countries with 140,000 members.

"We have met several kids who have shown an interest," said Suzanne Stauffer, one of two chairs of the Leo Club. The others are Zoe Kelley and Erin Goodwin. Gary Fillion is the Ballard Lions advisor.

So far 20 Ballard students have shown an interest by signing up. Seattle high school students must do 60 hours of community service in order to graduate and serving with the Leo Club would satisfy those requirements.

Both Stauffer and Goodwin said they have been involved in community service since there were young and understood the value of joining the Ballard Lions.

Leo Club members will likely start with a food drive to feed the needy as a introduction project. First they'll need to get their membership organized and elect officers.

"They get to choose what they want to do, we hope for them to be future Lions Club members," said Stauffer.

A longtime member, Bill Damon hopes the Leo Club will help the Ballard Lions grow and sustain people who want to be members.

Students will help represent the Ballard Lions during the Golden Ears Days later this week. Ear plugs and Golden Ears Days stickers will be handed out in exchange for donations.

Last year the club raised $1800 and the goal this time is $2,000. Out of 290 Lions Clubs in Washington and Northern Idaho, the Ballard Lions were the top contributing club per capita in 2005 and 2006. Monies raised go to the Northwest Lions Hearing and Sight Foundation to pay for glasses, hearing aids and cornea transplants.

This year's co-chair of Golden Ears Days is Terry Nelson Froggatt, who graduated from Ballard High in 1964. The other chair is Christine McGarry.

"We want to take this opportunity to thank the Ballard community for donating. Without their support we could not support our hearing and sight programs," said Froggatt.

The announced a $2000 Mel Bleakney Memorial Scholarship to Libby Martin and a $15,000 contribution to the Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington.

Golden Ears Days is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 5 and 6. Ballard Lions Club members will be stationed at the Fred Meyer store, Ballard Market, QFC on Holman Road, Ballard Liquor Store on Market St. and in front of Tully's Coffee on Market Street.

People who need assistance in obtaining a hearing aid can call Nancy Debaste at 282-4097 or Ted Peterson for glasses at 789-9417.