Social Diversity describes the broad societal influences surrounding our community such as race, culture, religion, age, gender and personal circumstance.

Social diversity should be a ‘no-brainer’ for Lions Clubs;  Lions exists in 206 countries around the world, in all walks of life, and across gender and social boundaries.  One of the great benefits for Lions members is that we can travel within our own country, and worldwide, and meet others who share our ethic of community service, but whose lives and lifestyles are richly different to our own.

Of course, our fundamental unit of organisation is ‘the club’, and diversity can be an issue within clubs. In my view, this is because the positive aspects of club culture; security, familiarity, predictability, can militate against diversity and the risks it brings.

One club has decided to tackle this issue by creating a position on their Board to champion diversity. Tim Colgan, President of the Lions Club of Charles Sturt writes:

“The Lions Club of Charles Sturt is pleased to announce the appointment of Hijas Punathil to the Board position of Social Diversity Director.   Read the Social Diversity Director Position  Description 

Social diversity describes the broad societal influences surrounding our community such as race, culture, religion, age, gender and personal circumstance.

The Lions Club of Charles Sturt has identified that the membership of the club and the demographic of the broader Charles Sturt community has changed significantly in recent years with substantial shifts in the diversity of race, culture, religion and age within a relatively short period. The appointment of a Social Diversity Director to the Board of the Lions Club of Charles Sturt aims to recognise these changes by encouraging, stimulating and providing an inclusive environment within the club while also identifying key opportunities in the broader Charles Sturt community where the membership can promote and participate in social inclusion projects.

 For further information please visit our website www.charlessturt.sa.lions.org.au“

Tim would be happy to speak to other clubs interested in incorporating a ‘Social Diversity’ portfolio on their Club Boards.

It is usual at Lions functions, particularly these sorts of celebrations, to recite the Lions Purposes and our Code of Ethics.  The language is a little old fashioned, but they really do remind us why we are all here, working alongside each other to improve our communities, so it is worth listening. There is also an “Invocation”. Merriam-Websters Dictionary describes an Invocation as: “the act or process of petitioning for help or support” It’s a call for authority, often a prayer – but not necessarily so.

Rodney Hales

The Chairperson got my attention when he announced that the Lion reading the Invocation was the grandchild of the Lion who read the Invocation back in 1962. What a nice touch! When Len Hales read the Invocation in 1962, it was obviously more than simple words to him.  He passed on his desire to do great community service to his son, and ultimately his grandson Rodney, who was there on 1 December 2012, reading the Invocation on behalf of his Lions Club.

We, as Lions, ought to be talking to Rodney Hales, and people like him, about what makes this magic happen.  How do we pass on our love of volunteering and community service to those people close to us.

Rodney shared a little insight in an e-mail to me, about his grandfather, who’s service extended well beyond Lions, and about his club.

Len Hales

“Len Hales was my grandfather who migrated from England prior to 1921. He was Mayor of Northcote 1947-48,  1954 -55 and 1963- 64. Both Len and his wife Florence worked tirelessly for their local community. Granddad was also on the board of management of the PANCH hospital from inception till he was struck down by stroke in the mid 80s. Saturday was a very happy event for all in the club.

Reaching 50 years of service motivates you to seek out the history of what this club has accomplished.”

I was very glad many were able to attend this important occasion.

Select this link to have a look at the Official Charter Program from 1962

This ABC radio interview with two long standing members of the Irymple Lions Club and of an eighteen year old young lady who has just joined the club, gives great exposure to the benefits membership of Lions Clubs, both on a personal basis and to the community.

It is a most positive interview that Lions members would find interesting. However to the community in general it offers an insight to the working of a Lions Club and extends an invitation the public to make contact with the club.

It does this by exposing the service work done, the fellowship opportunities and the inclusiveness of Lions clubs of differing gender and age groups.

The interviewer has obviously been much impressed with the work this club does in serving the community and this gives high credibility of the interview in my view.

I commend it to you.

Membership Director
Lions Club of Lugarno 201N5

Elvio and Gae Munzone

Membership in Lions offers a distinction found in few other organisations. A distinction Lions have enjoyed since our earliest days, a distinction which will remain as one of our greatest legacies to future generations.

The prestige of being a member of the world’s leading service club organisation is in itself a unique distinction.

What we have achieved with Campaign Sight first and other Lions Projects honour each member.

The close and lasting friendships developed as we work on Club activities stand out as special benefits of Lions Club membership. What truly sets us apart goes beyond just being a member, and makes it possible for that membership to be prestigious, meaningful and satisfying, that distinction is responsibility.

A sense of responsibility is the quality that defines a progressive and enlightened society.
A society that is based on accountability, good judgment and trust.

We Lions give of our time and our talents not because we are ordered to do so, nor for the prospect of any reward, but in the knowledge that doing something for someone else, and doing it well, represent a special personal commitment.

Many people believe that responsibilities are better avoided, but Lions seek out responsibility, embrace it and then fulfil it.

Our greatest challenges have been with us since 1917, the challenge to offer to other qualified people the dual opportunities of community service and personal fulfilment that comes with membership of our great organisation.

Identifying and inviting qualified men and women to join us is a responsibility shared by all Lions. We all must seek out those friends, acquaintances and associates who are not yet Lions but who possess the qualities that characterise Lions.

We must give them the opportunity to become full participants in our organisation and gain the satisfaction and prestige that come with membership.

If prospective members attend a meeting, will our activities, operations and image appeal to them? We must be flexible in our approach and meet the challenge of changing community attitudes. A club that fails to review its operations and programs from time to time in the light of our Code of Ethics and our Lions Club Purposes may be losing sight of our original purpose and endangering its own success.

Perhaps the greatest act of being a volunteer is to give of our time. To volunteer is to forget even for a short period of time, that we are the centre of the universe, to forget ourselves and instead to place that focus on our fellow human beings.

It is an opportunity to cease being selfish, even for just a moment.

The life of a Lions Club is made up of those who have volunteered their time, their money, their life. It includes those who at every opportunity have a good word to say about the mission of Lions Clubs International. If to volunteer is to give of your time and efforts then I believe that every act of volunteerism has consequences. The person that receives this act is given joy, relief, assistance in an otherwise difficult moment. This act changes their thoughts, their words, their actions and sometimes their whole life.

I personally am aware of many instances where volunteering has resulted in many positive outcomes.

On an individual basis I believe that our hearts are made a little brighter and lighter.
Volunteers give of themselves only to find that they are repaid with interest and out of that embarrassment for these gifts go and try again and again.

Above all try to ensure that you have fun. I believe that we Lions working together can mould the future to our will; we have to seize the opportunity now, let’s accept the responsibility for the future, as we strive to achieve our membership goals.

In this spirit, I’m sharing the thoughts of Membership Chairperson Lion Wayne Oakes from Victoria about caring for those prospective members.

It’s worth a read.

Rob Oerlemans

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Why would I join your club: Looking after those interested new volunteers

From Lion Wayne OAKES

The thing I like most about being Membership Chairman is talking to people about our great organization.   Being proud to be a Lion is an essential element in your personality, your life when prospecting a potential new member.   I have put together a few pointers that may be helpful when contacting prospective members, particularly those who make inquiries over the Internet.

With advances in technologies that are available to people today, interest in our organization can come from any direction, at any time and from almost anyone.   Before I get carried away about these technologies though, let’s not forget the one vital piece of the prospecting puzzle.   People like to speak to people!

Internet Membership Inquiries are an exciting stage of an entire process.   Notice, I said, process because it is indeed a process that takes time, energy and involvement on a personal, one to one basis to develop an inquiry to its full potential.

Having received a number of these inquiries, several things have become self-evident:

• You have an inquiry from a person that may or may not know anything at all about what it means to be a Lion or what Lions do.

• An internet inquiry can be a step into the dark for some people, so it is vital that they are responded to quickly and with respect.

• Avoidable delays are usually fatal to an enquiry as it indicates to a potential member that we (Lions) are not interested.

• People like talking to people despite the reliance on emails and text messages in our lives.  They seek personal contact.

The enquiry when it arrives will contain a number of pieces of information.   You will know personal contact details of the inquirer, perhaps occupation, closest Lions Club and how and why the inquiry was made.   All this is very important but of itself, sterile.   It stands to reason that in most cases an emailed reply will be sterile also.

Ask yourself what you can do to warm things up a bit, to make the idea of becoming a Lion more inviting to your prospective new member, remembering of course that you only ever get one opportunity to make that first impression!

I have my inquiry, now what?

• Pick up the phone!   Contact your prospective member in person.    One of the greatest forms of motivation is recognition and one of the finest forms of recognition is the spoken word.

• A simple phone call can make your prospective member’s day.   It says that you have placed enough importance on them and their inquiry to take time out from your schedule to make contact.

• A phone call or even better, a phone call followed up with a visit provides you with the perfect opportunity to learn about the person, their family, their hopes and goals. It re-enforces their sense of value to you as an individual and to Lions International as a whole.

• Three very powerful words in the whole process are “Listen and respond.”   Whilst that may seem simplistic those who forget to listen do some of the greatest damage.

• Take the time to listen and find out what interests your potential member, why Lions membership is attractive to them.   You can find out about their family, perhaps they have a partner who may be interested in becoming part of the organization also.

• What do they do for a living?   The answer to this question may impact upon the club they choose to join as work schedules may conflict with meeting times.

• Don’t presume to know which club they may want to join, offer them alternatives if there are alternatives in the area.

• Seek their permission before you contact a club with their details.

• If possible make the club contact in person as well and follow it up by forwarding the enquiry.

One final thing which is very rewarding, although not always possible: – If you have been able to make that personal contact, suggest you may like to be present when your potential member gets inducted, should they decide that Lions is for them.   Remember though, if you make that promise, keep it!

Remember, be respectful, reply promptly, contact in person.

Published in Newcastle Herald 25 September 2012

Original article published in Newcastle Herald 28 September 2012

Until you make a deep and longstanding commitment to volunteering; it’s hard to understand how much our communities need volunteers.  Ordinary, generous and committed people “giving freely of their time, labour and means”. That’s one of our Lions ethics and a pretty important one.  It’s why the community has faith that when they support us, we won’t waste their contribution.

The impact of our service clubs is amazing.  Lions Clubs International Save Sight Campaign has raised over $415 million dollars since it commenced. That’s helping to eradicate preventable blindness by paying for 8 million cataract surgeries, preventing trachoma for 10 million Ethiopans and providing 150 million doses of Mecticzan to control river blindness around the world.  We’ve just partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to eradicate measles from the Globe.

Closer to home we supported Prof Ian Frazer for 20 years in his mission to create a Cervical Cancer vaccine. Fred Hollows, the Bionic Ear, Cyclone Tracey, the Black Saturday Bushfires… Lions have been there playing their part.

People tend to think of us as a fundraising organisation, but at its core we are community service volunteers.  We build parks, plant trees, we staff relief centres during emergencies.  Our global network in 207 countries means that when we have to get in and help, we work through our clubs to make sure that relief, aid, support and equipment goes to the right people. One of the saddest, but most rewarding experiences to me was following the Tsunami in Indonesia.  Lions got together with our local counterparts following the Tsunami and we actually rebuilt a village…even to the point of new fishing boats to get the locals back to work. It was truly inspiring.

I had the pleasure on Monday to visit the work that the local Lions have been doing at the Wetlands over many years. Thousands of hours transforming a barren waterfront to a green, sensory walking trail for vision-impaired and sighted people alike.

Our organisation is really quite simple to engage with.  We are first and foremost a humanitarian organisation – members join because they want to help improve their community at a local, national or global scale.  We are a network – we have nearly 1.4 million members around the world, and because we all wear the badge, we have an instant connection to each other.  We have a reputation for achievement and ‘doing the right thing. That’s a great asset to us.

Finally, we are in the business of making humanitarian dreams a reality.  When you explore our organisation, you can see thousands of examples of everyday Lions recognising a problem, then working with others to dream up a solution and putting it into practice.

So I’m a part of this organisation because I want our members to follow their dreams for a better world.

See the published articles:

Lions working for a better world

New Lions King

Peter, a Cerebral Palsy sufferer himself and member of Lions Club International (Werribee), is determined to ride a wheelchair scooter from Sydney to Melbourne to raise funds for Variety – the Children’s Charity and the Lions Children’s Mobility Foundation. With thanks to Pride Mobility and a donated scooter that can handle the journey, his dream will become a reality.

Beginning in Sydney on October 29, he will embark on a 12 day ride, averaging 100k’s a day.

Check out the flyer below for more details about Muddy’s epic ride!

Muddy’a Whacky Scooter Bash Flyer 050812