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,
andthe 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. (Goto Sight Conservation links)
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.
