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Dane La Joye
Melitta J. Cutright
630-571-5466 ext. 363

For Immediate Release

LIONS CLUBS OBSERVE KATRINA ANNIVERSARY BY LAUNCHING EMERGENCY RELIEF PROGRAM

Local Volunteers to Fill a Community Need

OAK BROOK, ILLINOIS, August 24, 2006 -- Lions Clubs International, already the leader in programs for blind and visually impaired people, is launching a new emergency relief effort called the Lions Alert Program.

According to Jimmy Ross, Lions Clubs International president, the program is designed to formalize Lions relief efforts and establish a network of Lions helping Lions in providing emergency relief. “Lions have always been involved in providing relief in the aftermath of disasters. This Lions Alert Program provides specific guidance to the 45,000 Lions clubs around the world and helps them be even more effective in providing short and long term relief to victims of disasters,” Ross said.

“I can’t even begin to tell you the awesome response that we had from Lions in the United States, Canada, Europe and around the world,” said a resident of Biloxi, Mississippi. “After Hurricane Katrina, we couldn’t have rebuilt without Lions help.” According to another Biloxi resident, “Words can’t say what we feel in our hearts. Lions thought of us. Lions came when we needed them.”

The Lions Alert Program grew from what Lions leaders consider “lessons learned” following 9/11, the 2005 tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. First and foremost, Lions realized quickly that local relationships and “feet on the ground” are key, since local service organizations are close at hand and familiar with an affected region’s political leaders and other power brokers. Therefore they can move swiftly to identify very specific needs and cut through politics and red tape to fill gaps, often more efficiently than large international organizations headquartered far away.

“By the time relief workers around the world learned of the tremendous devastation of the tsunami in South East Asia, members of Lions clubs and other local organizations were already rushing to the area with trucks loaded with water, medicine, food and blankets,” Ross said.

The Lions Alert Program is not intended to replace the work of larger national and international relief organizations, but rather to supplement their efforts. The program will provide Lions with a standardized structure and network to deliver needed services to people in emergency situations.

Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with 1.3 million members in 200 countries around the world. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service. For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit www.lionsclubs.org.

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