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The International Association of Lions Clubs is a
volunteer service organization. It comprises over 44,000 individual clubs
grouped under a worldwide organization. The Lions are men and women
dedicated to serving those in need, whether in their own community or
half-way around the world. Lions are men and women from all walks of life
who volunteer their time to humanitarian causes in their local and world
communities. By conducting service projects and raising funds, Lions
strive to help those in need, whenever need exists. Although the youngest
major service club organization, Lions Clubs International is the world's
largest, with 1.4 million members in over 180 counties. We Serve is not
only our motto, but a definition and a philosophy. The International
Association of Lions Clubs began as the dream of a Chicago insurance man
Melvin Jones, who wondered why local business clubs -- he was an active
member of one -- could not expand their horizons from purely business
concerns to the betterment of their communities and the world at large.
Jones' idea struck a chord within his own group, the Business Circle of
Chicago, and they authorized him to explore his concept with similar
organizations from around the United States. His efforts resulted in an
organizational meeting at a local hotel on June 7, 1917.
The 12 men who gathered there overcame a natural sense
of loyalty to their parent clubs, voted the "Association of Lions Clubs"
into existence, and issued a call for a national convention to be held in
Dallas, Texas, USA in October of the same year. Thirty-six delegates
representing 22 clubs from nine states heeded the call, approved the
"Lions Clubs" designation, and elected Dr. William P. Woods of Indiana as
their first president. Guiding force and founder Melvin Jones was named
acting secretary. Thus began an association with Lionism that only ended
with his death in 1961.
That first convention also began to define what Lionism
was to become. A constitution and by-laws were adopted, the colors of
purple and gold approved, and a start made on Lionism's Objectives and
Code of Ethics. One of the objects was startling for an era that prided
itself on mercenary individualism, and has remained one of the main tenets
of Lionism ever since. "No Club," it read, "shall hold out the financial
betterment of its members as its object." Community leaders soon began to
organize clubs throughout the United States, and the association became
"international" with the formation of the Windsor, Ontario, Canada Lions
Club in 1920. Clubs were later organized in China, Mexico, and Cuba. By
1927, membership stood at 60,000 in 1,183 clubs.
In 1935, Panama became home to the first Central
American club, with the first South American club being organized in
Colombia the following year. Lionism reached Australia in 1947 and Europe
in 1948, as clubs were chartered in Sweden, Switzerland, and France. In
1952, the first club was chartered in Japan. The International Association
of Lions Clubs is today the largest service organization in the world with
over 1.4 million members in more than 43,300 clubs in 714 Districts
covering 182 countries and geographic areas. Lions Clubs are not social
clubs, although there are social benefits to membership. Lions Club
members give their time, skills and resources to raise funds for
charitable giving both in their communities and internationally.
The major focus of Lions fund raising activities is
sight conservation, although other projects are pursued such as drug
awareness programs in high schools, diabetes awareness programs and other
programs that are specific to individual Clubs and Districts. Lions took
up sight conservation as their major goal after a speech given by Helen
Keller at the Lions International Convention held at Cedar Point, Ohio in
1925. At that time, Helen Keller challenged the Lions to become "Knights
of the Blind", a challenge that has become a rallying cry for Lions
projects around the world. Lions work in the area of sight conservation is
carried out at many levels. Individual Clubs sponsor free eye screening
programs using mobile eye clinics. In many countries, Clubs sponsor eye
surgery camps where cataract surgeries are performed at no charge for
those that can't afford this medical care. Many clubs collect old eye
glasses for distribution to the needy in other countries.
The International Association of Lions Clubs is the
largest non-governmental organization associated with the United Nations
and was called upon by the United Nations and the World Health
Organization to raise funds for an international program of sight
conservation. It has been estimated that 40 million cases of curable and
preventable blindness exist on this planet today. Without intervention,
this is projected to become 80 million by the end of the decade.
The International Association of Lions Clubs began a
program of fund raising that they called "Campaign Sight First" in order
to cure/prevent 40 million cases of blindness worldwide. Over $148,600,000
have been raised by Lions all over the world for this program. Eye
hospitals are being built in the places that most need them. In India
alone, over 300,000 cataract surgeries have been performed and that number
is rapidly growing. Lions services to humanity range from purchasing
eyeglass for a child who's parents can't afford them to multimillion
dollar programs to cure blindness on a worldwide scale. The Lions
International Headquarters is in Oak Brook, Illinois, USA.
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