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Loris, by virtue of the Loris High School Lions sports teams, is Lions country. It鈥檚 just not Lions Club country.

A North Myrtle Beach Lions Club member is determined to change that.

Sandy Boggs is leading the charge to establish a new chapter in Loris, supporting the expansion goal of Lions鈥� Club International, which formed in 1917 in Chicago and spread across the globe.

With 48,000 clubs and 1.4 million members in 200-plus nations, 鈥渨e're the largest service organization in the world,鈥� Boggs said.

Each Lions Club district in the U.S. endeavors to help three new clubs form every year, and Loris is fertile ground, the commercial hub for a fast-growing rural area.

鈥淚鈥檝e been watching Loris for three years. It鈥檚 a small town; I grew up in a small town,鈥� said Boggs, a former special education teacher and assistant superintendent of schools in her native West Virginia, who moved to the Longs area in 2015.

In a sense, she said, the attempt to form a club to serve the Loris community is simply returning a favor. Her North Myrtle Beach club, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last year, was formed in 1949 with assistance from the established Lions Club from the then larger city of Loris.

鈥淭hey gave us our start,鈥� Boggs said. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 our turn to help them."

The effort began at last year鈥檚 Loris Bog-Off Festival, when leaders from District 32C, one of two Lions International districts in South Carolina, handed out brochures and talked up community members.

They delivered a small list of contacts to Boggs, who has carried the ball in the months since.

Boggs has made the rounds promoting the Lions, contacting Loris Chamber of Commerce officials, addressing the Loris City Council, and meeting with a core group of interested community members at Ritchie鈥檚 General Store.

Loris residents Lori Suggs, Sherrie Keen, Tanner Cox, Sandra McCormick and Bridgett Fowler have agreed to get the ball rolling, and will form the nucleus of a branch club of the North Myrtle Beach Chamber.

The core group will meet Feb. 20 with district officials to learn how to conduct a meeting, to begin defining a vision for Loris club projects, and to set a time and date for a public information meeting to recruit more members.

Boggs said a club must have 20 members to receive a charter and form its own chapter, a goal she hopes to accomplish in Loris by Sept. 1. She expects to serve as the branch club鈥檚 Guiding Lion, continuing her efforts to help charter a club in Loris.

Boggs said a club can do a lot of good for a town, raising money through fundraisers and tax-deductible donations to pay for programs to assist the community.

She said the North Myrtle Beach Lions鈥� programs include providing college and technical school scholarships for high school seniors; conducting a food drive in conjunction with Rotarians to stock local church food banks; overseeing several Free Little Libraries in the community; collecting used prescription eyeglasses, readers and sunglasses for global distribution; and paying for eye exams and prescription glasses for local residents.

They also send their mascot Leonardo the Lion, who wears a costume gifted to the club by Loris High School, to parades and other events in the North Myrtle Beach area.

To get things started in Loris, she鈥檚 already placed eyeglass collection boxes at the Loris Chamber of Commerce and Horry County Council on Aging鈥檚 Loris Senior Center.

Lions International has more than a handful of global causes, and is best known for its vision initiatives after accepting a challenge a century ago from Helen Keller to be 鈥渢he knights of the blind.鈥�

Other goals include supporting initiatives that include hunger, diabetes, environment, disaster relief, youth leadership, childhood cancer and childhood literacy. They also support Cubs Clubs for children and Leos Clubs for older youths in communities and schools.

But each club can establish its own local initiatives based on community needs, and each member can pick and choose which projects they work on if they have limited time. Club meetings are held twice a month.

Samantha Norris, executive director of the Loris Chamber of Commerce said the city could use more service organizations. 鈥淎ny group like that would be beneficial to the town, the residents and the businesses.鈥�

Boggs said the Lions are eager to help.

鈥淲e serve the community; that鈥檚 our big thing,鈥� Boggs said, citing one of the Lions鈥� mottos: 鈥淲here there鈥檚 a need, there鈥檚 a Lion."

For more information about joining the club, contact Boggs at Sandragb@sccoast.net or 304-545-8295.