FIVE REASONS FOR LIONS TO BELIEVE IN OUR FUTURE

by Al Brandel
President
The International Association of Lions Clubs

Lions are optimistic people. We believe in a bright future. That’s partly because we know we can help shape the future in a positive way through our service.

But there is more reason than ever to be extremely optimistic and very enthusiastic about the future of Lions. Let me explain just a few reasons why.

• Lions have shown through SightFirst what we can do when we pool our resources, energies and abilities. Through SightFirst, we’ve saved 30 million people from blindness.  We built or expanded 300 eye hospitals, clinics and wards through SightFirst. We’ve done 7.3 million cataract surgeries. We’ve trained 345,000 eye health care professionals. We’ll save the sight of millions more thanks to Campaign SightFirst II.
• Here’s another benefit of the campaign: we learned a great deal on how to organize Lions in a common cause. We are transitioning that knowledge and structure to a Global Membership Team. We’ll exert the same kind of organizing success to membership growth. I’ve appointed 41 Lions to this Global Membership Team. This is at least a three-year effort. We learned from Campaign SightFirst II how effective continuity is when trying to achieve a very ambitious goal. With the Global Membership Team, we aren’t starting from scratch. The team will work with the MERL teams already working on membership. They’ll work with council chairs, of course, and everyone else. We’re very excited about this new approach. We hope to have new members beating down the doors of our clubhouses to get in!
• LCIF was named the No. 1 NGO or non-governmental organization by the prestigious Financial Times in 2007. I’ve known since I became a Lion that we’re the greatest service organization in the world. I’m happy to tell you that the rest of the world is beginning to notice and giving us our due. Our No. 1 ranking is a reason to feel proud—and to invite others to join us as Lions. Let’s be proud of who we are and what we do and never hesitate to let others know that we are an organization you want to be part of. We’re a great group of people doing great things. We need to say to others: Won’t you join us?
• We Lions are attractive. People want to be part of us. Kenneth Behring, a U.S. philanthropist, and his foundation, the Global Health and Education Foundation, gave a $7.5 million gift to Campaign SightFirst II. That shows just how much Lions mean to others and how we can attract support.
• Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, a Lion, nominated Lions for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is a wonderful recognition of the importance of the service done by every club and each Lion. Our individual miracles of service add up to a spectacular contribution to our communities and the world community.

So take pride in being a Lion and be very optimistic about our future. We’ve done great work and our service grows stronger as time passes.