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

Our Passion To Excel in our performance as Lions, as men and women dedicated to the steadfast humanitarian principles of  “We Serve,” is manifested in our support of the Lions Clubs International Foundation. The generosity of our worldwide membership has enabled the foundation to help Lions construct hospitals and clinics, schools, senior citizens centers and other facilities and organize vocational programs for the disabled, help young people make correct decision that affect their lives through the Lions-Quest program, provide low-cost, high-quality hearing aids and come to the assistance of victims of natural disasters with immediate relief and long-term rebuilding programs. And, of course, LCIF-funded SightFirst grants are bringing the gift of sight to millions, with the $150-$200 million Campaign SightFirst II goals guaranteed to take us closer to the day when we can say that the Lions of the world have conquered preventable and reversible blindness. 

LCIF does, indeed, bring health, hope and healing to people in need of caring hands, as was witnessed in the response of Lions to the devastation caused by the tsunami. Funding also continues to provide camping opportunities for children who lost parents on 9/11, opportunities that strengthen their confidence and make it possible for them to enjoy a pleasurable and comforting experience. Still another LCIF-funded endeavor is helping people with disabilities who, unfortunately, have often been neglected. This is our Special Olympics Opening Eyes program in which we are providing these athletes from around the world with free vision screenings and eyeglasses and testing to detect the possibility of serious eye diseases. In excess of 70,000 individuals have thus far received examinations and more than 27,500 provided with prescription eyeglasses.

All this and more has been made possible because Lions have recognized their responsibility to the progress of LCIF through the Contributing Membership program, being a Campaign SightFirst donor and the Melvin Jones Fellowship, the foundation’s primary source of revenue with more than 229,000 Fellows now enrolled. The projects funded by LCIF deserve your support and I ask every member of this association to understand the crucial importance of exercising their passion for extending our arm of humanitarian service to people in need the world over.

LCIF has grown to be one of the leading foundations of its kind precisely because Lions have been passionate in their support since it was established in 1968. It has come to exemplify the “international” in our name and has made it possible for our proud emblem to appear on buildings housing equipment and trained staffs to answer human needs, at treatment centers where SightFirst is successfully fighting trachoma, onchocerciasis and cataract blindness, and at other locations that show the “We Serve” spirit in action. During my travels, and especially in my home country of India, I have witnessed at first hand all that Lions are able to accomplish because of generous grants from LCIF.

The Lions Clubs International Foundation enables us to exercise our passion to serve freely and generously in helping others and provides the means to turn dreams into realities. It gives us confidence in knowing that we gain so much for ourselves by making life better for someone else. It is a vehicle for Lions helping fellow Lions reach their service objectives and to be able to look forward to still greater achievements.

Let us continue along this well-traveled path before us and remain confident of the fact that the Lions Clubs International Foundation stands as our most potent global instrument for responding to the needs of humanity in our never ending “Passion To Excel.”