District 30-M Lions Blog

We are two month deep in the Lions Club International (LCI) fiscal year. Let’s take a quick check-up to see about the health of your club. Meetings – Has your club had a meeting since July 1 st ? Perhaps your club held a traditional meeting. That means members gathering together in the same place at the same time. Perhaps your club decided to meet using video conferencing software. Zoom is an example. It’s very popular and easy to use. If your club has met since July 1st, give yourself one point. If your club has not met since July 1st, give yourself a zero. Service – What service projects has your club completed since July 1 st ? A service project can be a major undertaking like a sight screening, food drive, cleaning up a public area, or some other event that benefits the entire community. Perhaps your club sponsored a needy patient for an eye exam. That is also service. If your club has served others since July 1st, give yourself one point. If your club has not served your comm...

For decades the general public associates Lions with serving the needs of the visually impaired. That simple statement has many practical applications. Here are just a few. It might give local clubs some ideas on how to serve their community during times of social distancing.  Organize a braille, large print and audio book collection to benefit a library or senior center. Volunteer to create audio recordings of books & periodicals. Work with local eye care professionals to provide community vision screenings. Sponsor a World Sight Day event. Sponsor visually impaired students through camps, contests or other activities. Create a community arts program for children and adults who are blind or visually impaired. Collaborate with an eye bank to promote the importance of corneal donations. Develop a directory of community resources and services for those who are visually impaired. Volunteer at a visual rehabilitation or vocational training center. Organize an inclusive sporting e...

It's sometimes challenging to explain what Lions do. For the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) to be successful, it's important to be able to do just that. Here is a one-minute video that does exactly that. Lions in District 30-M must find new Lions. That's a  NAMI  goal. Feel free to share this video with them. Feel free to contact me if any Lion needs additional help in finding new Lions. We Serve because Kindness Matters Lion  Andy Kalinowski  (Andy K) District Governor 662.549.3421 http://www.mississippilions.org/ https://www.facebook.com/Lions30M

One of the most important aspects of being a Lion is the social aspect. Loving people enjoy being around people. Whether it’s serving others or socializing with club members at a meeting, the social aspect of being a Lion is very important. The coronavirus pandemic impacts that. How can Lions meet but at a social distance? Let’s discuss. A Lions Club might have a service project or collecting used eyeglasses. Lions recycle those glasses for eventual patient distribution in the Third World. Many clubs have dozens of collection boxes in high volume areas like banks, waiting rooms, retail stores, etc. A club could set one day each month to collect those glasses. Ask each of the members to empty those boxes at a specific time. Visiting a business to empty a box implies social contact at a distance. Afterwards, the Lions then gather together to count the donations. That’s more interaction. It may not be perfect, but it does provide for social interaction. Let’s consider another exam...

The primary goal of the Lions Club International (LCI) North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) is to have a membership increase. After one month, how did District 30-M fare in achieving the NAMI goal? During the month of July, District 30-M added six new Lions. The Horn Lake Lions Club added two Lions. The Aberdeen Lions Club, East Columbus Lions Club, Grenada Lions Club and Olive Branch each added a new Lion. That’s the good news. The East Columbus and Tupelo Evening Lions Clubs each dropped two Lions. The Batesville Lions Club and Tunica Lions Club each dropped a member. That means the net was no July membership gain. The District has a NAMI goal to add 100 Lions this year. Adding six Lions falls below the membership trend line to achieve the goal. The District can sustain a 36 drops this year. Having six drops in one month is twice the NAMI forecast amount. The early reporting is just that. It’s early. There is still nearly a year to change the direction of membersh...

Let’s do a quick change of format for the blog today. During Saturday’s webinar on the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ), Past International Director Jerome Thompson showed this 6-minute video. It describes the five levels of leadership. Watch it now. Many of the membership problems facing Lions today is the direct result of ineffective leadership in the past. That’s not to point a finger at any one specific individual. This has been a 40-year problem.  NAMI  cannot correct a 40-year problem in just one year. It will take a long time.  NAMI  is the beginning by creating leaders for the local clubs, zones, district and multiple district. We Serve because Kindness Matters Lion Andy Kalinowski (Andy K) District Governor 662.549.3421 http://www.mississippilions.org/ https://www.facebook.com/Lions30M

Earlier this week we spoke about the importance of orienting a new member. In Lions the orientation is a bit different. A Lion is a member of a local club. That Lion is also a member of Lions Club International (LCI). That is the reason for extending the topic discussion beyond the local club. District 30-M helps local clubs by having a free and on-demand orientation for new Lions. The orientation for the District lasts about 15 minutes. The one for LCI is also a 15-minute presentation. The content of each mirrors the orientation for a local club orientation. We begin with a history of the District or LCI. We identify officers. We discuss service. We discuss the frequency and location of meetings. We discuss service projects. All of these are important to new Lions. The District and LCI each have a 501(c)(3) foundation. While they work hand-in-hand, each is unique and distinctive. There is a reason for having 3 different orientation sessions. We want to prevent “information ove...

On Saturday all Lions who live in Mississippi have an important webinar. The topic is the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ). Let’s briefly discuss some information including the registration process. A goal of NAMI is to increase membership in Lions Club International (LCI) by June 30, 2021. That date marks the end of the LCI fiscal year. For the past 38 years, more people dropped their LCI membership than joined. The primary goal of NAMI is to reverse that trend. Within that overall goal are several smaller goals. There are NAMI goals for the District and individual club. That’s the main purpose in the webinar. Many clubs ceased meeting due to the coronavirus. That’s no one’s fault. However, the coronavirus will not stop Lions from reaching the NAMI goal. The coronavirus may prove to demonstrate to Lions and prospective Lions just how fearless and resourceful Lions are when they set their mind on a common purpose. Fearless does not mean reckless. It means outsm...

When anyone joins anything, it is a common practice that someone provide the newbie with an orientation. An orientation provides the new member with basic information about whatever it is they just joined. Let’s examine the orientation for members of a Lions Club. There is a lot of information a new Lion should know. Let’s keep it simple from the start. Today let’s only discuss information about the local Lions Club. History – Start by reviewing the history of that club. When it received their charter and identify current charter members. Also mention any special milestones of the club or any (past or present) members. Officers – A new member might not fully understand why certain people say things at a meeting. Identifying club officers is a way to remove some of the puzzlement. This is a good time to talk about the process of club elections. Service – Reviewing the club’s service projects helps a new Lion realize how that person can fit into to the club. Even if they do no...

One of the challenges facing each Lions is a membership loss. For the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) to succeed, Lions must reduce the number of membership drops. Let’s discuss some of the reasons for a membership drop. Some are within the control of the club. There are some membership drops outside the control of a club. Death is one of those. Many times, a Lion moves after retirement to be closer to family. In this case, a drop may just be a change of clubs. Mississippi is one of the states experiencing a “brain drain”. That means those active in the work force decide to leave and relocate to a place paying a higher salary than here. It’s a well-known situation that perplexes both state lawmakers and lobbyists. Again, Lions who relocate simply transfer to another club. There are several reasons of resignation within the control of the club. One of those is competing interests. Perhaps the meeting time conflicts with ever changing family responsibilities. The solu...

Each Lions zone chair has an important role in the North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ). Let’s define some important words in the previous sentence. It’s really simple. The zone chair oversees a zone. In the Lions Club, a zone has three to six clubs. Normally the clubs in the zone are geographically close to each other. That makes attending a zone meeting very easy because there is very little travel involved. It’s a common practice to have a zone meeting once every three or four months. A zone meeting helps the Lions in each club get to know other nearby Lions. That’s important when undertaking service or fund-raising projects. The zone chair also reminds the club president and club secretary of district goals. This is where NAMI comes into play. NAMI has a key feature missing from previous membership campaigns. NAMI adds accountability to the members find agreement. Clubs and zones hold the District Governor responsible for membership growth. The District Governor h...

During the weekend, most Lions in the state of Mississippi received an e-mail from Past International Director (PID) Jerome Thompson. PID Jerome is leader of the Global Action Team for Constitutional Area 1 (United States). He is leading a webinar for importance for all Mississippi Lions. The webinar deals with the five levels of leadership, as defined by John Maxwell’s book. Most Lions across the state have not heard about the North American Membership Initiative (NAMI). PID Jerome will discuss the Lions membership trends in the US during the last 40 years. There is more. It’s one thing to recognize the direction of the trend line. It’s another thing to reverse it. That’s what’s happening this year. Lion leaders have a four-part plan to boost membership. During much of the webinar PID Jerome will discuss this topic. It’s important that Lions charter new clubs. It’s equally important that each club experience club growth. At the end of the day, it’s about retaining individual Lio...