LCIF Releases Annual Report

LCIF's 2002-2003 Annual Report, available for downloading, summarizes LCIF's initiatives to restore and preserve sight, nurture youth, promote health, alleviate disaster and overcome disability.

The attractive four-color report shows that LCIF approved 504 grants for US$30.9 million in 2002-2003. The foundation received US$18.1 million in donations in the same time period.

The report also shows that LCIF is sound financially. Its administrative costs have averaged 10.7 percent over the last decade, an excellent ratio for a non-profit. In 2003, Charity Navigator, an independent non-profit, gave LCIF its highest rating (four stars) for its fiscal responsibility.

The report categorizes the approved grants. In 2002-2003, LCIF approved:

• 118 sight-related grants for US$17.7 million including 53 SightFirst grants for US$14.9 million. The grants, both SightFirst and others, ranged from US$50,000 for renovating the Northwest Lions Eye Bank in the state of Washington (USA) and US$75,000 to purchase equipment for a Lions Sight Center in Korea to US$105,000 for a cataract campaign in Nepal and US$3.8 million to control river blindness in Sudan.

• 25-disaster related grants for US$2.1 million. Most of them were to help families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States. LCIF also made 162 emergency grants for US$1.4 million.

• 73 disability-related grants for US$4.2 million. The grants ranged from US$37,500 to expand a Leader Dog for the Blind facility in Michigan (USA) and US$71,250 to build a dormitory at a school for the blind in Chile to US$75,000 to construct a vocational center for the disabled in India and US$10,000 to build a Lions-Habitat home in Poland.

• 42-youth related grants for US$1.5 million. The grants ranged from US$100,000 to expand a Lions-Quest program in Singapore and US$75,000 for a mobile clinic for street children in Switzerland to US$75,000 to build a primary school in Turkey and US$55,491 to construct a children's home in Russia.

• 65 heath-related grants for US$3.6 million. The grants ranged from US$64,000 to expand and equip a women's cancer center in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and US$60,254 to improve a children's hospital in Bosnia.

• 15 humanitarian-related grants for US$351,000. The grants ranged from US$30,000 to build water wells in Mali to US$30,000 to foster agricultural development in Benin.

The report lists the top 20 contributing districts in 2002-2003. Districts from Japan occupy 18 of the slots. Districts 334-A, 335-B and 330-B fill the first three spots.

Also listed are the top 25 districts with the largest percentage increases in donations. Districts 5-CN (Canada), 19-E (Idaho, USA) and 37-F (Canada) occupy the first three spots.