Haddonfield Lions: Pillars of the Community
President Bob Stokes works very hard to build on the club’s success.
By SAUL RESNICK
Special to The Sun
This is another in the series The Sun is running about people who make significant contributions to the Haddonfield community.
“The Haddonfield Lions Club’s success in raising funds for the blind and visually disabled, as well as community causes, has been recognized for decades,” said Bob Stokes, the club’s president for the past year.
“Our board of directors and I believe we can build on that by streamlining our organization and bringing greater focus to where funds we raise go, increasing our membership with a specific aim of recruiting younger people and asking even more effort from members in leadership roles to create an even better tomorrow for the club and its charitable causes,” Stokes said.
Simple formula. No easy task.
In the past five years, the club has raised more than $150,000 for its many causes, which in 2017 will include contributions to more than 25 different organizations dedicated to both the visually impaired and Haddonfield area community causes.
Seven significant fundraisers throughout each year have fueled the club’s charitable endeavors.
Stokes said the club’s biggest fundraiser, the Lizzy Haddon girls basketball tournament raised more than $18,000.
“As for the past year, eight new members, including two officers with the Haddonfield Police, have brought ideas and fresh approaches to our club’s efforts,” Stokes said. “Our drive to increase membership has been led by Dr. Lawrence Ragone, our very own Mr. Energizer, who has worked non-stop with his team to add new members.”
Stokes, who leads by example with too many hours of hard work to count, would be known in the corporate world as a change agent. He said it takes “a clear vision, patience but persistence, leading by example and strong trusting relationships with club members to achieve goals for the club’s future.
“We can do it, but it will take continuing incremental changes and effort from our members to make it happen, and perhaps new ideas to add to our fund-raising,” Stokes said.
Stokes, a native Hoosier from Indianapolis, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969. He worked for 30 years as an information technology consultant and project manager.
“Before my retirement in 2016, I implemented clinical information systems for two large services agencies, Elwyn in Media, Pa., and Bancroft in Haddonfield,” Stokes, a member of the Lions Club for five years, said.
With a multi-faceted career, Bob was also an urban educator for years, working as a reading specialist in North Philadelphia and in schools in Maryland. His North Philadelphia experience with middle school students was a real eye-opener.
“Most of the kids could not read at grade level and did not even want to be there,” Stokes said. “I used a variety of ways to motivate them, and they worked, to the point where they referred to me as ‘Cool Bob.’ As I look back, I cherish the memory.”
Bob’s personal life with his wife Kathi has been blessed with two sons, Ian, a Hollywood television scriptwriter, and Geoff, a special education teacher in Denver. Geoff and his wife, Rachel, are the proud parents of Elliott, born May 31 this year.
Bob says that he and Kathi have been married 35 years and have lived in Haddonfield since 1983.
“Kathi is the talented one in our family,” Stokes said with great admiration. “She was a history teacher at Cherokee High School. Since her retirement, she has been a cello teacher in our home and at the Moorestown Music School with students ranging in age from 5 to 50. She founded the Haddonfield Cello Society about 20 years ago, and they perform at a variety of South Jersey venues. In addition, she has played with the South Jersey Philharmonic for many years. She is an extraordinary person by any measure, and I am very lucky to have her as a life partner.”
For his part, Bob, in addition to his all-consuming role in the Lions Club, contributes time and effort to other organizations as a volunteer, including the Haddonfield Celebrations Committee, Bancroft and the Adult Basic Literacy Program at Camden County College.
As for Bob’s ultimate lesson in life, it’s simple.
“Personal success is only achieved by helping everyone you work with be successful in their endeavors,” Stokes said. “If you can be remembered by others in that way, your own life is indeed a success. For me, it’s a work in progress.”
Bob’s achievements speak for themselves.
If you wish to become a member of the Haddonfield Lions Club, contact Bob at (856) 761–4117 or by email at robert.s.stokes@hotmail.com.
