District 30-M Lions Blog

Life is not fair. That is best illustrated when doctors tell a parent that their child has cancer. That disease affects the child, the parents, siblings, and extended family. Lions have an opportunity to show real kindness to those children and adults directly impacted. That makes this type of service really appreciated. There are some ideas a club can use to tap into a tremendous service opportunity. Provide craft materials, puzzles, books & games to children receiving treatment. Prepare meals for families with children undergoing treatment. Donate gas, parking & food gift cards to families in need or a childhood cancer center. Provide cancer support books and magazines to your local school. Write cards full of well-wishes and share them with a local cancer center. Make or buy new hats, caps, head scarves and blankets to donate to children’s cancer centers. Coordinate travel arrangements to and from treatments for a family of a child with cancer. Provide tutoring services to...

During the coronavirus pandemic many Lions Clubs are finding exciting new service opportunities by participating in a Lions Club International service project. They are serving their community by feeding the hungry. Here are a few ideas for clubs to consider. Volunteer to deliver prepared meals to those who are elderly or visually impaired. Organize a program at a local school to provide healthy, nutritious meals. Prepare food baskets for families in need. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. Take families in need shopping for fruits and vegetables. Organize an event to benefit a food bank in your community; use cans of food as admission. Hold a hunger walk and use proceeds to buy food for a children's center or a homeless shelter. Create a cookbook of inexpensive, easy recipes. Create healthy snack packages to be distributed to children in need. Partner with local restaurants or food markets to deliver donations to a shelter. Start a food co-operative to serve as a r...

Growing Lions Clubs want to do service. Many are also looking for an economical solution to serve. Many want younger members. Clubs that combine an active environmental service project with recruiting find tremendous success. Let’s look at a few suggestions to not only improve the environment but also grow new Lions in the process. Plant trees with the advice of a local environment organization on the best locations and varieties. Clean up a beach, community space or roadside area monthly as a club. Hold an environment-themed photo contest at a school. Plant a tree or another green form of recognition to honor the winner. Challenge all Lions in your club or district to add one green habit to their daily lives. Recognize a local organization or community leader for environmental conservation work. Volunteer with your local park service to maintain trails. Help more people access and enjoy nature! Commit to “Meatless Mondays” or not eating meat one day each week. Collect used cellphone...

A vibrant and growing Lions Club needs to engage in service-related activities. Let’s examine some ideas for service. Today’s ideas are for projects related to diabetes. Diabetes is a condition that impairs the body’s ability to process blood glucose. The common name for glucose is blood sugar. It is estimated that over 30 million people in the US over the age of 18 have diabetes . That number represents between one in four and one in three people living in the US. Without ongoing medical supervision, diabetes can lead to a buildup of sugars in the blood. That build up can increase the risk of dangerous medical complications. These include stroke , heart disease or blindness. That is why Lions Club International (LCI) designated diabetes as an international service project. Here is a list of some potential service projects for a local Lions Club to consider. Organize a “Strides: Lions for Diabetes Awareness” event. Organize a community support group for parents of children with ...

Serving is at the core of every Lions Club. Lions have a reputation for helping the blind and visually impaired. That reputation dates back to 1925 when Helen Keller challenged Lions to be her “Knights for the Blind in a crusade against darkness.” That challenge did not mean Lions are to ignore other local needs. The international board of directors for Lions Club International designated a total of five projects for international service. Even those five have a few additions. Let’s discuss each. Vision is the signature service project for Lions, as discussed above. Vision can mean doing sight screenings. It could mean paying for professional services for the under privileged. Lions love to collect glasses for recycling in the Third World. Diabetes is a growing problem in society. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among American adults. Control diabetes and save vision. Lions advocate for diabetic education. Environment is a global cause. Lions replant trees. Lions ...

In watching some new election coverage, a politician sometimes utters the phrase, “I’m not leaving the party, the party left me.” That happens in Lions also. An individual member becomes disenchanted with the local club. Let’s discuss a few alternatives. The easiest way is for a disappointed Lion to show that feeling is by resignation. That should be the final alternative – not the first. Perhaps changing clubs could be the solution. Do not fall for the false assumption that all Lions clubs are the same. In some ways they are. In more ways each club is unique. It’s true all Lions Club serve their community. Perhaps a specific club has one major annual service project. If a club member has limited time, then this specific club might be an excellent fit. If an individual Lion wants to serve on a monthly basis, that specific club might not be the best fit. There are Lions clubs that have multiple service projects throughout the year. For the Lion that loves to always seek service op...

Each Lions Club in the northern half of Mississippi has a membership goal. The goal is fairly easy to achieve. It is to have a net membership increase of one Lion by June 30, 2021. Let’s discuss one way to achieve that goal. To have a net membership increase means adding to the overall membership size of the club. If a club had 20 Lions on June 30 th then the goal is to have 21 Lions by next June 30 th . So, if there is a membership loss the club must find a new Lion to make up for that loss plus another new Lion for the net growth. Some membership drops are unavoidable. One of those is death. Who can avoid death? Another reason for a membership drop is relocation to a new community. There are two main reasons for relocation. One is acceptance of a better paying job. How can you stop a person from achieving better financial independence? The other reason for relocation is family. Family relocation cuts two ways. It may be because an elder needs to be closer to younger family membe...

The surest way to have a net membership increase is to serve others. For 95 years Lions have made vision their signature service project. Vision is just a portion of what Lions do in their community. Many clubs are finding new and exciting way to serve others in non-vision related projects. Today, let’s highlight two of them. The Oxford Lions Club has served the Oxford, Ole Miss campus and Lafayette County community for 80 years. It is one of the oldest Lions Clubs in Mississippi. They had met each Tuesday during the noon hour at a local restaurant. The coronavirus changed the meeting format. Last week 11 of their members posed for a picture. These Lions unloaded trucks at a local food pantry. Then they stocked the shelves. It’s when they took a break that they conducted club business and posed for a picture. This is what “We Serve” looks like in today’s society. That club touched the lives of numerous people in their community. We go from one of the oldest Lions Club to one of...

Two months into the Lions year and it appears that some clubs are being very serious about increasing membership. Let’s take a broad look not only at membership by donating to Lions foundations. The North American Membership Initiative ( NAMI ) goal for each club is to finish the current Lions year on June 30, 2021 with a net membership increase. Two months into the year, District 30-M has a net membership increase of five Lions. Let’s see where those Lions are. There are 13 new Lions in seven different clubs. Six of the clubs gained a new Lion. One club found seven people to join. Most of those new Lions are actually in a branch Lions Club. That branch is very near being able to request a formal charter from Lions Club International (LCI). It is a goal of District 30-M to charter two new clubs this year (or one during each half of the year). That puts the District more than on-target to achieve one of their goals. Beginning the recruitment process for the second club has to wait...

It might seem impossible to conduct vision screening while social distancing. Let’s provide a few tips on ways to out-fox a foxy virus. For 95 years, Lions have been the “Knights for the blind in a crusade against darkness.” That was the challenge Helen Keller gave to Lions in 1925. At the time, Lions Club International was just eight years old. That challenge remains today. The best way to prevent blindness is vision screenings. For years Lions used standard eye charts to measure acuity. While still effective, there is new technology. PlusOptix – Three years ago about a dozen Lions Clubs in District 30-M purchased a PlusOptix vision screener. This technology changed sight screenings. Let me oversimply the procedure. The PlusOptix machine is about the same physical size as an iPad or tablet. It is a bit bulkier, however. Point the PlusOptix at the eye pupil. It’s as simple as taking a picture with an iPad or tablet. Because that is exactly what happens. The PlusOptix creates a dig...

Convincing someone to join Lions Club International (LCI) is only the beginning. There are three other parts to the recruiting process. Let’s discuss those today. Orientation – When someone joins any organization, an orientation usually follows within the first 15 days. With Lions, it’s no different. Probably the best time to conduct the orientation is immediately before completing the membership application. Explain every facet of the club. Start with a brief history and include club milestones. Identify club officers. Explain the dues structure. Brag about service projects. Tell about fund-raising endeavors. This prevents unpleasant surprises after joining. Induction – Have a prompt formal induction ceremony for each new Lion. That’s more impressive that having an induction ceremony once every six months. Individual inductions allow personalization. The induction ceremony serves as a reminder for the new Lion about LCI. Remind them of our association’s history and major milestone...