The HISTORY of LIONISM
The International Association of Lions Clubs began as the dream of a
Chicago
insurance man Melvin Jones,
who wondered why local business clubs 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 and approved the "Lions Clubs" designation.
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 Columbia 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.
You can contact Lions Clubs
International as follows:
Lions Clubs International
300 22nd Street
Oak Brook, IL
USA 60521-8842
Telephone: (630) 571-5466
Fax: (630) 571-8890
Email: lions@lionsclubs.org
http://www.lionsclubs.org
