MOSES LAKE — Youth doesn’t have to be a barrier to making a difference in the world.

It surely isn’t for the Moses Lake Leo Club, which has more than 20 youngsters from the area who dedicate free time to serving their community. The local Leo Club’s members are between ages 12 and 18 and are guided by the club’s acronymic name, Leo, which stands for “Leadership, experience and opportunity.”

Typically, the Leos spend their time planning and executing projects to help others in the community, but over the weekend, the favor was returned. The Moses Lake Lions Club, the parent organization of the Leo Club, hosted an appreciation banquet for the youngsters at Lake Bowl in Moses Lake. The event was planned in a timely fashion to coordinate with April being Leo Club Awareness Month.

The whole point was to acknowledge the kids and the work of the Leo Club, both locally and across the globe, said Frank Karas, immediate past district governor for the Lions Club.

“They do all kinds of projects. They will go out and give the dogs a bath if they need them,” Karas said. “The one big one that they did this year was, they are sponsors of the Special Olympics. That was a good plus. They go out to hospitals and things like that, present them sometimes with a little Lion or books, stuff like that.”

The Moses Lake Leo Club is advised by Kathy Karas and her daughter, Brittany Karas (Frank’s daughter and granddaughter), both of whom played pivotal roles in getting the local Leo Club chartered in November 2013. Moses Lake Lions members Scott Carver and Pete Peterson were also instrumental in helping the Leos get their start, Karas said.

According to information provided by Brittany Karas, the first Leo Club was chartered in Pennsylvania in 1957, and the organization has flourished since. There are now more than 6,500 Leo Clubs in more than 140 countries.

Chartered in 2013, the Moses Lake Leo Club draws kids from various schools in the area. The club has joined forces with Special Olympics of Washington and has worked on a variety of other projects in their several-year history.

The club came together over the weekend to celebrate the many ways in which Leos, both locally and around the world, are making a difference. Karas said about 10 of the club’s 20-plus members were able to attend Saturday, including the club’s officers.

Advisor Brittany Karas was also presented with the Melvin Jones award at the event, the highest award that can be received from a Lions Club through the Lions Club International (LCI) organization.

The Leo Club members enjoyed pizza and bowling, a symbolic tip of the cap to the youngsters for their work serving the community.

“Acknowledges Leos’ involvement worldwide – that’s what it was all about,” Frank Karas said.

“I really praise the kids. The kids deserve the recognition. They bend over backwards for the community.”

The Leo Club is “always looking for new members who want to be actively involved” in the helping the community, Karas said. For more information about the club or to join the club, contact the Leos at leosmoseslake@gmail.com or visit www.e-leoclubhouse.org/sites/moseslake.

Ryan Minnerly can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.