District 30-M Lions Blog

During a Lions virtual symposium during the weekend, the leaders revealed a startling face. Many new Lions leave the association within the first three years for a variety of reasons. There is a way to reduce some of the membership drops. The study found that new Lions (within the first three years) who remained in the association took advantage of the Lions Learning Center (LLC). Access to the Lions Learning Center begins on the Lions Club International web page.  Along the top border is a link for Member Login. The only requirement is that a Lion must know his or her membership number. The club secretary has that information. It’s also printed on the subscription label for Lion Magazine. On the extreme right side of the page is a button for Learn. That’s how you get to the LLC. So, what’s inside? There are plenty of courses available on demand 24x7. Each course has three or four modules. Most Lions need 15-20 minutes to complete a module. It takes about an hour to complete ...

The local Lions Club is the at the heart of providing service to the community. Many Lions often forget they are part of an international association. That association has nearly unlimited financial resources. Some Lions forget their club is just one of more than 48,000 local Lions Clubs around the World. Lions have a presence in more than 200 countries. Lions provide service to more than 200,000 million people. What type of service? To help remember the scope of Lions work, there are quarterly meetings in each district. For District 30-M which is the northern half of Mississippi, here are the dates to save. Saturday, July 18 th  – 10 a.m. – Noon. St John’s United Methodist Church Family Life Center 1001 Grand Blvd Greenwood, MS 38930 Saturday, October 10 – 10 a.m. – Noon. Batesville Lions Club Building Tiger Drive (next to the South Panola HS football stadium on US-51 North) Batesville, MS 38606 Friday-Saturday, January 29-30, 2021 District 30-M Mid-Winter Convention Hya...

Earlier in the week, we provided some examples of how Lions Club are serving their communities even during the coronavirus. Being in a lockdown or having to maintain social distance is not an excuse to stop serving the community. It is an opportunity to think outside the box. It is an opportunity to reevaluate the importance of existing service projects. Today, let’s examine some other projects Lions can do. Why should Lions do service? First and foremost – Kindness Matters. Having the heart of a Lion means having the heart of a servant. It’s easy to find new Lions when doing meaningful community service. Partnering with organizations outside of Lions is a great way to find potential Lion members for local clubs. Let’s list a few projects any club can sponsor. Blood Drive – Lions do not necessarily need to sponsor a blood drive. They do need to be at the front of the donor line. Giving blood is safe, even in the coronavirus lockdown. Seriously consider being part of a local bloo...

For more than 100 years, local Lions Clubs have served their communities. Many clubs relied on sight screenings to provide community service. The coronavirus has changed our lifestyles. Sight screenings requires close personal contact. How can Lions serve with today’s limitations? Lions adopted the vision service project in 1925. They heard a speech by Helen Keller. She challenged Lions to be her “Knights for the Blind in a crusade against darkness.” That’s why the public associates Lions with vision issues. Some Lions Clubs mistakenly provide vision services at the expense of other service projects. Lions Club International adopted other international service projects. These include diabetes, hunger, the environment, pediatric cancer and youth. Within the northern part of Mississippi, many Lions Clubs have found a way to serve their community, while maintaining social distancing. Here are some examples. Batesville Lions held a benefit for their police department. Byhalia Lions p...

The North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) has four main parts. Three have a direct tie to membership. The fourth part is more subtle. For NAMI to succeed at the district level, each club must reach their goals. A way to ensure club success is by empowering their leaders. FVDG/DGE Andy Kalinowski What is empowerment? It’s education. Education or training brings confidence. Confidence leads to good practical experience. That’s why District 30-M made training a priority. Here are some examples. A few weeks ago, the District Global Leadership Team used three separate Zoom meetings to train incoming club officers. There was a session for presidents. Another zoom meeting taught the club secretary the ins and outs of that job. The club treasurer had a dedicated session. Each of the three sessions lasted about 90 minutes. Each session contained two parts. The first part reviewed standard Lions Club International (LCI) material about each office. The second half had a guided tour...

Many Lions Clubs already perform a significant amount of meaningful service in their community. Why is there a problem keeping members? Why is there a problem finding new Lions? Those are perhaps the most important questions ever asked. The success of the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) depends of Lions doing more than service. They need to take service a step further.  Many Lions Clubs provide sight screenings. Many clubs have other vision projects. Some clubs create awareness about the effects of diabetes. Other clubs emphasize preserving the environment. Many clubs actively support another Lions Club International (LCI) service project – Hunger. Serving those with pediatric cancer and their families is the fifth LCI service project.  The community always comes first to Lions. A club service project does not have to fit into one of the five LCI service projects. Some clubs sponsor youth athletic teams. Others recognize and thank first responders, the milita...

The membership of Lions Club International has steadily declined in the United States for 38 consecutive years. This year will probably be no different. The North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) plans to reverse that trend. There are three critical parts to NAMI success. However, it all comes down to one critical question. Why join or be part of Lions?  One of the ways to increase Lions membership is by chartering a new club or establishing a branch club. Another is to join an existing Lions club. The third part means slowing down membership losses. For NAMI to be successful, the District has to reach their goals in these categories. But it comes back to the simple question. Why join or remain in Lions? Let’s examine.  Any service club adds value to a community. Last week the Grenada Lions Club celebrated their 85 th club anniversary. How did they survive that long? There is a simple answer. They provided service to their community.  Club members screened...

Last night the Grenada Lions Club celebrated the 85 th anniversary of their club charter. Lions Club International issued their charter on June 10, 1935. Here are some things mentioned during the celebration. When the Grenada Lions Club received their charter, it was in the middle of the Great Depression. Unemployment exceeded 20 percent. Per capita income was less than $500 annually. That did not deter the club’s founders. They saw real needs. They served those needs. Grenada Lions are still serving needs in their community. Moe Hubbard is Lion of the Year About 850 children in the Grenada school district and Kirk Academy received a free eye screening thanks to this club. Add to that another 15 students in adult education. The club attended two health fairs and the Jubilee Festival. That’s another 100 people who received a free vision screening. Grenada Lions collected more than 400 pair of glasses for recycling. Optometrists going on Optical Missions to the Third World can u...

It’s hard to find someone to join a Lions Club. Here is a question. Is it harder to find one new Lions Club member or two new Lions Club members? In some instances, it is harder to find rather than two. Why is that?  FVDG/DGE Andy Kalinowski A goal of the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) is to increase membership by one for each Lions Club in District 30-M by June 30, 2021. That seems achievable on the surface. There are some challenges to finding one new Lion.  Many people do not want to join anything unless they realize they share a common interest with the existing members. If Abe and Bob are friends, it makes sense to speak to both of them about joining a Lions Club at the same time. If they accept, they know right from the beginning they will know someone.  Like most service organizations, Lions serve a community. That community could be a large city like Tupelo, or a small community such as Mantachie, Marietta or Dorsey. But there is another way t...

Lions Club International almost had 1.5 million members three years ago. The key word is almost. Lions never achieved 1.5 million members.  For 38-straight years, Lions in the United States have had declining membership. That’s the main reason for the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ). We have to reverse a nearly 4-decade trend.  FVDG/DGE Andy Kalinowski Last year Lions from fifteen states came together. They had one purpose. They began to critically examine every facet of Lionism. We can relate to three of those fifteen states. They are fairly close to home. One area is the northern third of Alabama. Another is the east-central part of Tennessee. Northwest Georgia is the third area. They began NAMI .  Lion leaders from these fifteen areas collaborated. They discovered many common traits to explain membership loss. Each reason is just as important as another reason.  One finding is that today’s meeting format does not match today’s lifestyles. Lio...

Hello District 30-M Lions,  Empowering leaders is a North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) goal. One way to empower leaders is to be sure they understand their specific job within their club. Training is one way to understand the job.  Our District Global Leadership Team (GLT) has three training sessions scheduled for club level leaders. Each session lasts about 90 minutes. We’ll use the Zoom platform. Any Lion is more than welcome to participate and learn.  The club treasurers have their training at 10:00 a.m. The club treasurer is the most trustworthy Lion in the club. Why? Because club members trust the treasurer to handle their money. The treasurer needs to fully understand the safeguards for good financial stewardship.  The noon training session is for the club secretary. A secretary does a lot more than just record the minutes of the meeting. The club secretary is the liaison between the club and Lions Club International (LCI). It’s the secretary...

Hello District 30-M Lions, Why will the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) work? We’ve tried to increase membership many times. Those plans didn’t work. Why is NAMI any different? I’ve got five reasons. Second Intl Vice President Brian Sheehan 1.        NAMI has the active involvement of the most senior elected Lions. Our Second International Vice President is Brian Sheehan. VP Brian is from Bird Island, Minnesota. Do you know where Bird Island is? It’s 70 miles west of Minneapolis and another 70 miles to the South Dakota state line. Only 1,100 people live i n Bird Island. That number declines every day. Sounds like many of the communities in our district! I’ll share some of VP Brian’s specific thoughts and suggestions for increasing 30-M membership in another blog. 2.       Last year LCI identified several NAMI pilot districts in the United States and Canada. One of those districts is in north Alabama. Another is in ...

Hello District 30-M Lions, I am beginning a regular blog about our district. Why? It’s part of an important goal of the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ).  NAMI  has four major planks to reverse a 38-straight year decline in Lions membership. Let’s briefly talk about the four major  NAMI  planks. We are going to charter new clubs and branch clubs in our district. That’s one way to increase membership. I want to see two new clubs chartered in our district this coming Lions year. We have some target communities already identified. That could add 50 new Lions. Another goal is I am challenging each of the 51 clubs in our district to have a net membership gain of one Lion by June 30, 2021. That’s another 51 new Lions. Will you and your club help? The third  NAMI  plank is critically important. We have to got to close the back door. Say what? We have too many Lions resigning. Let’s find out why. Are there some minor things that we can change t...