Dear Club Officers, 

I believe in miracles. I’ve seen them with my own eyes:

• Earlier this year when I visited Nairobi, Kenya, I met a mother who saw the faces of her children clearly for the first time.  She could see because she had received a cornea transplant at Lions Sight First Hospital.

 I also met a young boy there, who was not doing well in school, but his grades had miraculously improved and now he hopes to become a medical doctor.  He became a better student because he had been through a Lions AIDS and vision screening and his new eyeglasses allowed him to learn. 

• In Burkina Faso, I saw a group of Roman Catholic nuns who were able to care for abandoned babies only because local Lions supported them with donations of food, supplies and money.
• Following the horrible earthquake in China I witnessed a miracle of organization and cooperation.  Lions Clubs International was able to maintain a constant presence in the devastated zone because volunteers from some of our newest clubs took responsibility for a specific 10-day period to be relieved by volunteers from another club, who also stayed for 10 days.  The Lions of China kept this rotation going for as long as was needed.

We Lions perform miracles such as these every day. But what does it take to make a miracle?  I believe it takes the three “H’s” – head, heart and hands.  Every time a new member joins one of our clubs we add one head with which to dream, one heart with which to care and two hands with which to serve.. 

As the earthquake in China, the AIDS epidemic in Africa and poverty and blindness around the globe demonstrate, the world does not give us challenges in convenient, manageable sizes.  To remain effective we must continually increase our capacity for service. 

I am very pleased that over the past two years we have increased our ability to serve by thousands of heads, hearts and hands.  As of October, there are 4,047 more Lions Club members worldwide than at the same point last year.

 There are many reasons for this growth but one stands out: our Clubs’ attention to member retention is paying dividends.  Not only are more members being recruited, far fewer members have dropped out of Lions Clubs during the first months of 2008-2009, than could be expected based on statistics from recent years.  This is especially true in Constitutional Area 6, where membership losses have declined by more than 13 percent.  Congratulations to the Lions of India, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East! 

Here are the numbers of all members added and lost in all constitutional areas.

 

							Total Members added					Drops
							Oct-07	Oct-08	Change		Oct-07	Oct-08	Change
U.S. and Affiliates, Bermuda and Bahamas							14,332	13562	(770)		16,387	16699	312
Canada							1,203	950	(253)		1,639	1630	(9)
South America, Central America, Caribbean & Mexico							3,915	3903	(12)		4,136	4366	230
Europe							5,524	5326	(198)		6,007	6278	271
Orient and Southeast Asia							17,650	16083	(1,567)		12,066	12996	930
India, South Asia, Africa and Middle East							14,545	17782	3,237		13,534	11750	(1,784)
Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, S. Pacific							2,018	1731	(287)		2,055	1571	(484)
	GRAND TOTALS:						59,187	59337	150		55,824	55290	(534)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To ensure we continue to hear good news about membership recruitment and retention I ask you to take a good look at your own club.  Have you expanded your capacity for service?  By how many heads, hearts and hands?  Is it sufficient to meet the unexpected challenges we know the world will send us?  How much more could your club do with extra hands to share the work? 

When you ask these questions I know that your club will want to set ambitious goals for membership expansion, create a solid plan of action and work hard to reach those goals. 

The International Association of Lions Clubs is not a religious organization, but we Lions perform miracles every day.  We feed the hungry, cure the blind and serve with faith and dedication.  With gratitude for all these miracles I wish each of you and your families a blessed holiday season. 

Sincerely, 

Al Brandel

International President  

 

LCI Web site Links

http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/content/lions_lcif.shtml

http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/index.shtml