The Lions Club of Tortola will host its 46th annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Concert on Saturday, November 29, 2025, at the Sir Olva Georges Plaza from 6:30 PM. Photo: Facebook

The Lions Club of Tortola is inviting the general public and the corporate community to donate in-kind and monetary donations towards its annual food drive. Photo: Facebook

“It starts at 6:30 PM, and we have lots of musical performances, dance presentations,” Lion Nadia A. James said in an interview with JTV Channel 55 on Thursday, November 27, 2025. 

She invited the entire Virgin Islands community to come out and support the event. “You get a chance to sing, dance, be part of the festivities.”

Annual collection drive

Another activity planned for the Christmas season by the Lions Club is the annual food drive. 

James said this year, the club is conducting the drive a bit differently by requesting financial donations from the corporate community in addition to the in-kind donations from community members. 

Those funds, she explained, will be “used towards the purchase of items which will be going into the food baskets”, which will then be donated to the most vulnerable in the community.

“What we want to do is we want to ensure that if they have any dietary needs, low sugar, low salt, gluten-free, those kinds of things, we want to bear in mind, so we're asking them to donate funds that can be used to purchase these items.”

The following locations have been confirmed:

• OneMart Supermarket in Port Purcell (November 29 and 30)
• Bobby’s Supermarket (December 6 and 7)
• RiteWay Food Market in Pasea Estate (December 13 and 14)

“We will be at these locations collecting non-perishable items so any canned foods, non-perishable items and it's based on a list so you'll have a customized list that you can get from any of our Lions at these locations and you can go pick up the items, bring them back, we will pack them, we will donate them and we will be grateful,” James added. 

Annual toy drive 

The Lions Club of Tortola is also changing up its annual toy drive this year, catering to children with special needs at the Eslyn Henley Richiez Learning Centre and the Therapeutic Kindergarten of the Enis Admas Primary School. 

“They're two institutions that we will be working to help bring a more cheerful, joyful and inclusive Christmas to the students of these schools, these institutions and working with the teachers as well.”

James took the opportunity to again call on the corporate community to partner with them to make this toy drive possible. 

Interested persons on the sister islands of Anegada, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda are encouraged to get in touch with the club via email at tortolalions@gmail.com, through the club’s Facebook page or any of the members.