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Today's International Association of Lions Clubs
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 volunteer 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.
(Go To
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 eyeglasses for a child who's
parents can't afford them to multimillion dollar programs to cure blindness on a worldwide
scale. Hearing Conservation and Youth Programs are also promoted in many clubs.
(Go To
Hearing and Youth Program links)
The Lions International Headquarters is in Oak Brook, Illinois, USA.
You can contact Lions Clubs International as follows:
Lions Clubs International
300 22nd Street
Oak Brook, IL
USA. 60521-8842
Telephone: (+ 1 630) 571-5466
Fax: (+ 1 630) 571-8890
Email:
lions@lionsclubs.org
Website:
http://www.lionsclubs.org
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