The Dan Higgins Award originated in 2004 upon the recommendation of the governing board of Auburn Host Lions, who had studied the prospect of presenting a large award to a community organization for a number of years. The board and membership agreed to give $1,000 dollars or more to an Auburn area non-governmental nonprofit to further the needs of that organization. The names of three organizations are presented to the board by a committee composed of the immediate past president ( a non-voting member), another board member and two at-large club members who volunteer to screen all the organizations. The board discusses the merits of the organizations and votes. The organization receiving the most votes receives the Dan Higgins Award. In 2004 the Placer County Sheriff's Chaplaincy received the first ever Higgins Award.

The award bears the name of Dan Higgins for some very good reasons: Dan Higgins was a lifelong member of the Auburn Host Lions and served as its president as well as District 4C5 Governor. Dan was also known for his countless years of service as District Attorney for Placer County as well as his service as city councilman and mayor, a board trustee for Alta Vista School, and president of the Placer County Bar Association. Dan also founded the Higgins-Diggins Lions Club. The Auburn Host Lions wanted to honor Dan's service by naming this community award after him.

Click here for the the current Dan Higgins Award Guidelines. The Guidelines are in a PDF file. You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to print it. You can get the reader at http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html  or click on the icon below: