Dillingen and Bondeno are celebrating ten years of strong partnership!

Dillingen and Bondeno are celebrating ten years of strong partnership!

A successful partnership in Europe has been going on for ten years now: the exchange between the Lions Clubs of the cities of Dillingen and Bondeno in Italy shows how friendship and solidarity can work across borders. The anniversary was celebrated in Bondeno on the first weekend in October.

The partnership, which has been strengthened over the years through regular meetings and mutual aid activities, has become particularly visible since the devastating earthquake in Bondeno in 2012. The Dillinger Lions helped actively when it came to repairing the damage. Conversely, the Bondeno Lions Club showed its support when Dillingen was affected by severe floods in June 2024. A generous donation went to Lebenshilfe in Wertingen and helped to repair the flood damage in the local workshops. These aid projects are an impressive example of international friendship and commitment in action.

Ceremony for the anniversary

The festive evening in the “Centro Dillingen an der Donau” brought together not only members of the Lions Club from Bondeno, but also a 28-person delegation from Dillingen. On this celebratory occasion, the presidents of both clubs gave a positive assessment of the past few years. Manuel Stöckle, the chairman of the Dillinger Lions, symbolically presented a flag with the Lions' coat of arms as well as a flag that underlines the connection between the two cities.

Previously, Daniela von Huhn, who has now handed over the leadership to Stöckle, was able to look back on a successful presidential year in her farewell speech. Under her leadership, the club was able to donate an impressive 70,000 euros to various social institutions. Particularly noteworthy is the largest single donation of 20,000 euros, which was used to support flood victim aid in Wertingen. Another significant donation of 12,500 euros was made available to Lebenshilfe in Wertingen to alleviate the damage caused by the flood.

Commitment to the community

However, the commitment of the Dillingen Lions Club is not limited to acute emergency aid. Manuel Stöckle’s motto for the coming Lions year 2025/26 is “Keep going”. In doing so, he focuses on the ongoing support of education, culture and youth welfare in the region. The promotion of cultural projects is also very important: the big band concert of the schools in the district has already received a generous grant of 2,000 euros per participating school in recent years.

Augsburger Allgemeine and Lions Dillingen report that both the presidents and the members put their heart and soul into all activities in order to sustainably support the community. It remains to be seen what new projects and aid measures the Lions clubs will launch in the future in order to continue to demonstrate a good hand for social and cultural causes.