CulinaryClassics Online Cooking Resource Divisions of: Lajeunesse Enterprises Simpsonville, SC 29680
About The Lion's House:
What We Are:
We are a private home consisting of David And Suzanne McClendon as the father and mother, four biological children of our own, and three girls who we have recently adopted. The majority of the funds needed to run the household come from Social Security for David who is legally blind due to diabetes and money received for our biological children on David's account. Two of the other girls receive money from social security because their mother was killed by a car. Other sources of income have been the generosity of people at churches, companies and other organizations. All of this additional income is reported through the South Carolina Department of Social Services office in Anderson, South Carolina.
What We Want to Become:
Presently we are in the process of applying to be a licensed charity in the State of South Carolina. Once that is approved we will begin to ask for donations. We are located in a three bedroom (converted to four) brick home. We are located in Starr, South Carolina. We have just purchased this home which is worth approximately $70,000.00 for only $50,000.00. We would like to build a larger home that would house about twenty children. We would want to have enough money to build the home debt free. That way the money we receive from Social Security could go toward utilities and up keep on the home and make it easier to budget.
Where we want to be someday:
We seek to build a home which would be able to help children with different abilities (formerly called physical disablities) be able to lead a normal life with as little assitance as possible. We also would like to assist children of large sibling groups. Our doors will be open to children of all ethnic/racial backgrounds.
What are the ages of the children ?
The children range in age from three to fourteen. We have two boys and five girls. From time to time we are asked for their sizes. We will make the size chart available upon request.
What made you decide to become a children's home ?
Once we had the seven children here we realized we had a talent for dealing with children. We are in the process of adopting the three girls. Once the adoption is final we will seek to obtain citizenship for the oldest girl since she is not yet a United States Citizen. The other two girls are U.S. Citizens since they were born in the United States and their father is a U.S. citizen. At this point in time the adoption is still up in the air. The father of the oldest girl did not respond to legal notices and the father of the younger two girls indicates his desire to terminate his parental rights so that we may adopt them. This adoption has cost us in the neighborhood of $5000 since we started. This is through legal services. The costs with a private attorney would have been much higher.
Will you add more children?
Yes, once we are able to get enough money accumulated we will file to become a non-profit organization. However, the total cost for this is about $1,700.00. We have been told that some of the costs may be less. We may be able to find volunteer accountants and attorneys. In an effort to raise this money we compiled a cookbook. (more info follows below)
How do you transport seven children and two adults ?
Recently a 1989 Dodge Caravan was donated to the ministry by a kind couple who had been praying that they would be able to find a ministry that could use a vehicle. It has been a great gift. However, this won't last forever and since we do intend to grow in number we will need a new vehicle soon. Our best real bet for getting a new vehicle is to save enough Campbell's Soup Brand Products labels. If we save 1,095,000 labels and have our 501-C tax exempt status then Campbell's soup company will give us a 15 passenger van. It isn't just soup. We can use labels from Prego Spaghetti Sauce and Pace Mexican products and many more. Until such time as we are able to obtain a new vehicle we will have to put together a group of people who would drive us places as needed. We have a couple who will drive us but if our needs are excessive we would like to be able to share the burden.
Will the children placed with you ever be adoptable by others ?
No, the children we presently house are not adoptable. Once we complete the remodeling and expansion of the home we will take children in who can be adopted and may also adopt them as each case presents itself. However, if you are seeking to adopt a child in the mean time, you may wish to contact Adoptive and Birth Parent Services. Their toll free number is 1-800-868-6595. You may also wish to contact the Greenville offices of placement at (864) 241-1070.
What recreational activities do you have ?
Since abduction by the paternal grandmother is a very real threat, (this almost happened at a local Bible School last year) we presently cannot allow the children to go places on their own. When they are out in the yard they have to stay close to the house. Once we are able to get the van we wish to have several field trips including one to the Charleston Tea Plantation and other fascinating places in the state, if finances permit. Other than that we have reading, we play games together. The children would like to get some sing along tapes and start to sing songs at local churches. The children attend Awanas and the family attends Sunday School and Church.
I hear you home school is that right ?
Yes, we home school the children. We found that the younger girls were not learning to read they were learning to memorize. The oldest boy was getting beat up at school. The bus picked the children up on a very busy road along a blind curve. There are many other reasons including the rash of school shootings and proposed medical examinations at the schools. We feel that since we both have some college we are able to teach our children better than most school teachers could. We use the A Beka program along with intensive computer use and use of educational programing on television.
In conclusion:
We have found that we have a talent for helping children. Our main mission is "To Help Children Whenever Possible". We invite you to watch us grow and be a part whenever possible. ----David & Suzanne McClendon of The Lion's House
The Lion's House Needs List
We are asked a lot what we need. Well, in order to answer that question we have compiled the following list. We aren't asking anyone to provide it but if you happen to have anything that we could use that you are no longer using, please pass it along. Just tell Pappa Lion.The Following is our present needs letter: * Pray for us. * Stop by and mow the grass. * Provide minor repairs and improvements around the home. * Donate and install some door knobs and locks. (Handicapped accessible please) * Donate and install a chain link fence. * Donate and install an alarm system. * Help us repair and replace missing vinyl tile and complete tiling it. * Buy one ( or more) of the cookbooks (referred to below) * Purchase books from the Web site. Suggest books for the Web Site * Pick up a few groceries. With nine people in the family we go through a ton of groceries. It takes approximately 2 1/4 times as much as with a standard family. * Offer rides. * Fix the wall oven. * Donate a Television * Donate a Can Opener (Industrial and/or Electric) * Donate some cook ware * Have a yard sale bake sale or other fund raiser. * Save your Campbell's Soup Brand Products labels. * Donate Ink Jet paper and Hewlett-Packard Ink cartridges. * Donate Computer Equipment * Stop by and fix the bicycles and other riding toys. * Donate a Christmas Tree and Ornaments
The Lion's House Cookbook:
The Lion's House Children's Home is pleased to announce the printing
of our first cookbook. This cookbook contains approximately 300 recipes
including some from Governor David Beasley of South Carolina, Senator
Strom Thurmond, The Charleston Tea Plantation, Dave Thomas of Wendy's,
Mark Lowery and Congressman Lindsey Graham.
The Cookbook is now at the publisher, Fundcraft. We expect them to
completed by late August 1999. If you would like to order a copy of the
cookbook please send a check or money order made payable to The Lion's
House Children's Home. The cost is $10 per copy. If you wish to have it
mailed to you the cost for postage and mailing materials is $4 per copy.
The Cookbook is available in a spiral bound printed version as well as a
computer diskette. The diskette version contains 10 additional cookbooks
as well. Please specify which version you would like when ordering. If
you would like both versions we can ship them together so that you need
only pay the $4 postage once.
Please mail your order to:
The Lion's House Children's Home
P.O. Box 14831
Anderson, S.C. 29624
Proceeds from the sale of this cookbook will go towards the cost of
incorporating and filing as a 501-C tax exempt organization.
At this time we are beginning to prepare our second cookbook.. We are
presently seeking recipes from celebrities and others. If you would like
to contribute a recipe or several please send them to the address above.
The Campbell's Soup Label Program
The Lion's House needs your help. We need a new van. Campbell's
Soup Company will give us a new 15 passenger van if we collect enough
qualifying Campbell's Soup Brand products like: Franco-American Products,
Pace Mexican Products, Pepperidge Farms, Prego Spaghetti Sauces, Swanson
Foods, and V-8 vegetable juices.
Total Labels/Proofs Needed for For Van: 1,095,000
Labels/Proofs Collected to date : 3,219
Labels still needed : 1,091,781
You can help us by gathering together all the labels and proofs of
purchases you can for us. You can also help by spreading the word to
all your friends, neighbors, churches and civic groups. This promotion
ends On May 1st 2000 so we don't have very long. We will need all the
help we can get.
Please send your labels and proofs to:
The Lion's House
P.O. Box 14831
Anderson, S.C. 29624
For more information: Click Here !!
Navigating the Websites:
Click HERE to GoTo The Lion's House Site !
Click HERE for Info on Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
Click HERE for The Missing Children's Page !
Click HERE for Shopping at ShopTillYouDrop !
Click HERE for Recipes & More at CulinaryClassics
** NOTE: Information & Graphics for The Lion's House used by permission
from David & Suzanne McClendon of The Lion's House.
Remaining information & referencing pages ©1998-99 by:
Roger A Young, Jr.
webmaster & owner of:
CulinaryClassics
ShopTillYouDrop
Divisions of: Lajeunesse Enterprises
Simpsonville, SC 29680