Groton — Eleven local residents will be honored for their humanitarian work at the eighth annual Lion Humanitarian Banquet Jan. 21.

The banquet will take place at 1 p.m. at Groton Inn. The event is hosted by Lions Club 23-C, which represents Middlesex, New London, Windham and Tolland counties.

Locally, the nominees are:

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[naviga:li]Phil Pavone, the owner of AZ Pawn in Norwich, who has donated motorized wheelchairs to people who cannot afford them. Since he began in 2009, he has donated more than 400 wheelchairs.[/naviga:li]

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Maze Stephan of Ledyard is an engineer who founded an after-school church program teaching kids about science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Her program accepts students of all financial backgrounds and teaches them about everything from the periodic table to American Sign Language.

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David Hazard Wordell of Salem is a naturalist, conservationist and longtime Waterford teacher. He was president of the Eastern Connecticut Resource, Conservation and Development organization for many years and was founder and first president of the New England chapter. He produced a documentary about Lyme's Selden Neck island, and helped restore several historical sites of interest.

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[naviga:li]Sara Chaney is product manager at the Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center in New London. She helped found the New London chapter of the NAACP, served with the Children's New London League, the Soup Kitchen Board of Directors and the New London Historical Commission.[/naviga:li]

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Melanie Goggin is the owner of Mel's Downtown Creamery in Pawcatuck. Goggin has hosted many events to benefit local neighborhood centers. She has held fundraisers for the Jonny Cake Center and Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center among others.

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In the region, others that will be honored are Jeanne Mather, Johnathan Chapman, Bruce Dutch, Ray Aramini, Irene Kuck and John Tuttle.

Tickets cost $40 or $30 for children under 12 and must be purchased through either Mary Karogh at (860) 267-9166 or Joe Walters at (860) 267-2433. The deadline to purchase tickets is Jan. 15.