Lions Club charity run: from Warsaw to Brussels

Lions Clubs from Poland and Germany run for war victims in Ukraine

By Reinhard Boest

There is truly no shortage of charitable initiatives in Belgium. There is not only the Red Cross, Unicef or the Scouts, but also CAP48, 11.11.11, 12-12, Télévie or ‘De Warmste Week’. Every year, non-governmental organisations or television stations collect millions of euros for many good causes.

Anyone out and about in the park opposite the Royal Palace in Brussels on a Saturday afternoon could witness a special charity event. At around 4 p.m., a group of eight runners reached the finish line at the historic Warande Pavilion. Wearing yellow jerseys, they were easily recognisable as members of the Lions Club, which, by their own account, is one of the largest globally active non-governmental organisations. Five of them are from Poland, two from Germany and one from Ukraine.

You wouldn’t have been able to tell from looking at them that they had not just run the five kilometres from Square Léopold II on Avenue de Tervueren, together with a few supporters from Brussels. For them, it was the ‘home stretch’ of a multi-marathon of over 1124 kilometres. They had started in Warsaw on 4 October. From there, the route took them through four countries via Poznań, Słubice, Berlin, Potsdam, Helmstedt, Weimar, Kassel, Brühl and Maastricht to their destination in Brussels. The fact that light rain set in just on the last few metres – you always have to expect that in Brussels – did not dampen the enthusiasm of the runners.

The 2024 ‘Lions Charity Run – European Edition’, the longest in the history of this event, which began in 2013 under the motto ‘We serve – we run’, came to an end at the Warandepark. Every year, donations are collected for a good cause. This year, the money will go to support victims of the war in Ukraine and the floods in Poland and other Central European countries. Celebrities take on the patronage, this time including former Polish President Lech Walesa, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

Since 2013, the Lions Charity Run teams have already covered over 100,000 kilometres on almost every continent, with changing line-ups. Only Mariusz Szeib from Poland has been at every event from the beginning. He was also one of the organisers, together with Anke Hornemann from Verden, of this year’s run, which ended in Brussels for the first time. Szeib proudly pointed out that Belgium was the 19th country to be reached by the charity run. And for him as a Pole, the European capital has a special significance. His country has been a member of the EU for 20 years now and has since seen a tremendous development: ‘Back then we were poor, today we are rich’. Cross-border solidarity, especially European solidarity, is also one of the fundamental principles of the Lions Clubs.

Roman Monastyrskyy from Lviv in Ukraine thanked the Lions Club organisation for the great support his country has received since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression. He said that helping the victims of the war, such as this year’s purchase of prostheses, is extremely important.

Matthias Munny of the (German-speaking) Lions Club of Brussels-Charlemagne welcomed the runners representing the 7,000 Belgian members in 250 Lions clubs. Serge Longin of the Social Assistance Centre (CPAS) thanked the team on behalf of the city of Brussels and paid tribute to the great social commitment of the Lions clubs.

During the run, around €10,000 was collected. However, the organisers expect that considerably more donations will be received by the end of the year. If you would still like to participate in the fundraising campaign, you can do so by making a transfer to the account of the Lions Club Poznan (IBAN PL42 1140 2004 0000 3012 06 27 6184) or the Association Auxiliaire des Lions Clubs de Belgique (IBAN BE55 3100 4011 5044 – Lions Charity Run 12/10/2024).

A highlight awaits the participants of this year’s charity run: a meeting with Polish members of the European Parliament on Tuesday.

And Matthias Munny, in recognition of successfully managing the finish, will be able to manage the Lions team for the 20 kilometres of Brussels in May 2025.

Foto: Jürgen Klute