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.
You can
contact Lions Clubs International as follows:
Lions Clubs
International 300 W. 22nd
Street Oak Brook, IL
USA. 60523-8842
