New Durbanville Lions Club president scoops the ‘Lion of the Year’ award
Durbanville resident Danielle Cronje was named the Lion of the Year during an induction ceremony that was held in Brackenfell on Saturday.
As the new president of Durbanville Lions Club, who was elected in March, Ms Cronje, 31, received the award when she was inducted alongside Durbanville II Leo Club president, Jamie Burt.
The club is a branch of Lions Clubs International (LCI), a global humanitarian organisation with a primary purpose to improve the well-being of people worldwide, with many branches in different parts of the world.
Ms Cronje graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Conservation Ecology from Stellenbosch University in December 2016 and is currently a registered environmental scientist and the director of the Mosselbank River Conservation Team NPC.
Her activism started in 2017 when she met Elizabeth Maans, a community leader in Fisantekraal, and they started cleaning illegal dumping sites at Mosselbank River.
“From my involvement with that project, I started to connect with other organisations in the area, one of which was the Durbanville Lions Club,” Ms Cronje said, adding that she became a secretary of the club in July last year before she was elected as the president.
In mid 2018, she joined Durbanville Victim Support as a volunteer and coordinated the Fisantekraal group and she now sits on the executive committee as the marketing and media coordinator.
She succeeded Robert Trevor Jones as the president of Durbanville Lions Club and she is also currently serving on the Ward 105 committee for the environmental sector.
“My experience within leadership (ranks) has been tough, but very rewarding as I meet people who are truly amazing change-makers and an inspiration.
“Being a leader strips away a lot of your barriers and exposes many vulnerable parts of yourself. So, through the years I had to learn to be very vulnerable, but also use that as my motivation to be the voice for the voiceless,” she said.
The 1st Vice District Governor of Durbanville Lions Club, Bevil Lacky, extended well wishes to the new presidents.
“Their leadership will drive the members toward exploring new opportunities for service and growth,” Lackay said.
