The Lions Club

We hear of organizations like the Lions Club all the time and go past their lodges, but so many do not understand that they are more than social organizations. They play a big part in the life of the community by helping those in need. It was because of a speech made by Helen Keller to the Lions Club International Convention in Cedar Point, Ohio in 1925 that the Lions Club became an advocate for the blind. Ms. Keller said in part "This is the opportunity I offer you, Lions-to foster and sponsor the work of the American Foundation for the Blind. Will you not help me hasten the day when there shall be no preventable blindness, no little deaf blind child untaught, no blind man or woman unaided? I appeal to you, Lions-you who have your sight, your hearing, you who are strong and brave and kind-will you not constitute yourselves Knights of the Blind in my crusade against darkness?" The Lions Club has been known as the Knights of the Blind ever since.

The Lions Club is an international organization with 45,000 individual clubs and more than 1.3 million members. The primary mission of the Lions Club is to help the blind and visually impaired. They collect used eye glasses and distribute them to those who cannot afford them not only in the United States, but world wide as well. They Lions Eye Banks collects tissue donations for use in an estimated 30,000 eye surgeries each year. The Lions Clubs also provide free eye care, including cataract surgeries for those who cannot afford it.

Helping the visually impaired is not the only way the Lions Clubs work in the health field. They also support work on controlling and preventing both diabetes and diabetic retinopathy, arrange screenings and run recreational camps for the hearing impaired and operate recycling programs for used hearing aids much like they do with the eye glass program.

The Lions Clubs also builds homes for the disabled, provides vision screenings for Special Olympians and works with local governments to fund programs for the disabled.

The Lions Club also has special programs for children. Their Services for Children Program helps with education and health issues. The Lions Quest program helps teach life skills. The Lions Club also teaches children the importance of volunteering though their Leo Clubs which are open for children aged 12 and up. The Youth Camp and Exchange program gives young people the opportunity to travel to different countries and learn about their culture.

The Lions Clubs also help on a community wide basis. Their ALERT program works with communities to develop plans of action to counter any type of emergency whether it be natural or man made. Lions Crew at Work perform physical tasks to help out communities such as repairing parks and playgrounds, and building and remodeling community centers. The Lions Green Team works on environmental problems around the world by planting trees, establishing recycling programs and educational outreach programs.

Sources:

The Lions Club
Helen Keller's Speech