Transcript Anchorage Lions Club 2008

History of Lions Clubs International
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Melvin Jones 1879 - 1961
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He joined a Business Circle, an organization to promote ones own
interest.
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However, he thought, why not promote the needs and interests of
communities? So, in 1917 he organized a meeting of business
individuals in Chicago, Illinois, and formed Lions Clubs
International.
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1920 Canada joined.
History of Lions Clubs International
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1925 Helen Keller addressed the Lions International
Convention in Cedar Point, Ohio. As a result Lions
became “Knights of the Blind in the Crusade Against
Darkness”.
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1945 Helped the United Nations develop their NGO
section (non governmental organizations).
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Currently there are 1.3 million men and women in
45,000 Lions clubs in 205 countries and geographic
provinces.
Melvin Jones Fellowship Program
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Created in 1973 as the highest form of recognition in the Lions
organization, an honor to acknowledge an individual’s dedication to
humanitarian service.
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Provides 70% of the Lions Club International Foundation’s
revenue.
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Contributions of $1,000 can be made by Lions clubs, individual club
members, or in behalf of individual members by Lions clubs.
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Our Anchorage Lions Club has pledged to raise $16,000, in the
form of Melvin Jones Fellowships, over five years, starting in 2007.
Lions Club International Foundation
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Every dollar donated to LCIF goes toward a grant.
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Since 1968, when LCIF began, it has awarded 9,000 grants totaling
US$ 640 million.
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The LCIF SightFirst program, launched by Lions in 1989, raised
$143 million and prevented serious vision loss for 30 million
people, and improved eye care services for hundreds of millions.
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On average every $6 in donations has resulted in a person with
vision restored or saved from blindness.
Lions Club International Foundation
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The more than 900 SightFirst grants have:
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Provided more than 7.3 million cataract surgeries and prevented serious
vision loss for 20 million people.
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Supported 114 million treatments for river blindness,
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Built or expanded more than 300 eye hospitals/clinics/wards and upgraded
more than 337 eye centers with equipment.
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Improved eye care in 90 countries around the world.
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Trained more than 345,000 ophthalmologists, ophthalmic nurses, other
professional eye care workers and village health care workers.
Lions Club International Foundation
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Campaign Sight First II was launched by Lions in 2005 with the
goal of raising $150 million by the summer of 2008. When the
deadline was reached, $200,329,000 had been raised.
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The Financial Times has ranked the LCIF the top NGO in the world.
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Lions is the only NGO allowed to operate in China. After the recent
devastating earthquake, individual Lions clubs took the
responsibility for a specific 10 day period of time, followed other
clubs for the following 10 days.
Other LCIF grants for:
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Schools, camps, and homes for the disabled and disadvantaged
youths.
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Combating disability, promote health and serve youth.
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Building countless homes for those in need, a program in
partnership with Habitat for Humanities.
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Up to $10,000 for districts affected by a natural disaster that affects
at least 100 people, including tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and
typhoons. LCIF typically awards over $2 million in emergency grant
funding each year for immediate disaster relief.