by Dr. Ashok Mehta
President
The International Association of Lions Clubs

My fellow Lions, we have come to the end of our year in exercising our Passion To Excel. Our International Program challenges us with a number of goals, each designed to strengthen this association. How well have we succeeded in reaching these targets? Let us begin with one of the most important topics for Lions Clubs International: club and membership growth. 

This year, Plus One has been key to reaching our goals, and I commend each of you who have given so very generously in this Passion to Grow. Our club strength presently stands at 45,168, with 521 of those clubs having been chartered this year through mid-April. This is 50 clubs more compared to last year. There are now 217 Campus Lions Clubs, 158 New Century Lions Clubs and 687 Club Branches. With the addition of Kazakhstan, Somalia and the Republic of Maldives this year, Lions clubs are now active in 197 countries and geographical areas, and we expect to reach 200 by the end of the year. 

At the time this message was written, our membership stood at 1,317,674, which is only 4,700 below our figure at the beginning of this fiscal year. This is a significant improvement over recent annual trends and a net gain in membership remains a good possibility by year-end. In fact, membership additions to existing clubs have been the highest in five years. Also, a number of multiple districts that have not registered net gains in a number of years showed growth this year. I sincerely thank the leaders of these multiple districts for their very special passion to grow.

This year there was special emphasis on bringing more women into Lions clubs, and we have been very successful. Since July 1, 27,672 women have joined Lions clubs to raise their total membership to 227,707. I find this most encouraging and look forward to more women lending their skills and enthusiasm to Lions clubs worldwide in the years to come.

LCIF continues to epitomize the passion of Lions to answer the greatest needs of people in unfortunate circumstances or who have suffered grievously due to natural disasters. Through our SightFirst initiative, for example, more than five million cataract surgeries have brought the gift of sight, improved eye care services for millions more in developing parts of the world and provided 70 million treatments for river blindness, a program that today is expanding at a tremendous rate. I am proud to note that Lions Clubs International has received the prestigious Trachoma Gold Medal 2006 from the International Organization Against Trachoma. It was presented at the World Ophthalmology Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that was attended by 8,000 ophthalmologists and other eye care personnel from 100 nations. As a result of our partnership with the World Health Organization to combat childhood blindness, 30 pediatric eye care centers have been established, thus ensuring that blindness will be prevented in countless numbers of children.

Generous response to natural disasters involves the foundation on a continual basis. There has been an unprecedented coordination of resources, personal involvement and funding for the Pakistan/India earthquake, Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami. Major catastrophe grants totaling $850,000 have been made available for relief efforts in Pakistan. The Lions of that nation are focusing on the construction of 100 homes, with more planned. LCIF has also made $4.6 million available to help people devastated by Hurricane Katrina and $14.5 million has been made available to Lions in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand for long-term reconstruction in the wake of the tsunami. Presently, more than 1,300 homes are being built in these four countries.

We have also maintained our Passion To Excel in leadership development. Twelve Lions Leadership Institutes were scheduled this year—six for senior Lions and six for emerging Lions. The second year of expansion of the Lions Learning Center through the development of four online courses is nearly complete. They are “Delegation,” “Meeting Management,” “Public Relations” and “Effective Teams.” Approximately 5,500 members currently use the Lions Learning Center.

This year, we also promoted the partnership of Lions with young people. For example, there are now 5,513 Leo clubs in 135 nations. To underscore the importance of this partnership, a new banner patch bearing the words, “Serving Together,” will be awarded to Leo and Lions clubs that complete a joint project.

We have most assuredly met with a number of successes this year. Lions worldwide have shared their passion for service and global good will in their unwavering commitment to expand the ideals reflected in our motto, “We Serve.” I sincerely express my appreciation to all of you for your selfless efforts, your leadership and your dedication to giving substance to our proud 2005-2006 theme: “Passion To Excel.”