Posted on 07/10/2009 11:48:53 AM PDT by MplsSteve
As some of you may know, the International Lions Clubs concluded their week-long national convention here in Minneapolis.
Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from an acquaintance asking me to stop by and meet some people who were members.
They asked me if I would consider joining their chapter that meets in downtown Minneapolis each month. I said I'd consider it.
After a little bit of research, it sure looks to me like the Lions Clubs are a worthy group that pretty much stays away from politics and concentrates on improving peoples lives.
I realize that each chapter has different personalities and different goals but I am curious about one thing.
Are there any Freepers who are active in the Lions Clubs? if so, what do you like about it? What do you not like?
I'd appreciate any feedback that anyone would like to offer. It'll go a long way to helping me make my decision. Thank you.
I’m a Past King LION. Great organization. Every breakthrough in the prevention of Blindness can be attributed to them due to LIONS Eye-research.
Lions
Kiwanis
Rotary
FreeMasons
YMCA
All good groups and worth the time and efforts.
I would add Knights of Columbus to that list also.
Regards,
(*just kidding!)
Yes, excellent group however aren’t they church based?
Yes, but they do lots of community things. My father coordinated a ran Track Meets in Cincinnati and did many other communtiy things also.
LOL!
I was in the Lions for 10 years...great civic organization. Most dinner meetings feature plenty of alcohol, so enjoy!
I was acting President of the Lions when I left my previous home. We moved up here and I joined Kiwanis because the Lions don’t meet in the summer.
Different goals. Lions is mostly about eyes. Kiwanis focuses on helping young kids.
I’ve been with SERTOMA for 15 years, our club in its 80 years of existence has give close to $8 million back to our community. One of our annual projects is to give screening hearing tests to every first third and fifth grader in our area..tested almost 8,000 kids last fall. Lions is a good organization too.
About half way through my junior year, my glasses broke. We had no money or insurance and no way to get me another pair.
My social science teacher and I seemed to clash on almost a daily basis and I couldn't figure out why. I was competing with another student for the highest grade in the class and, with extra credit, I had over a 100%. But still he kept “picking” on me. (In my view.)
The problem was the he had a habit, when lecturing, of not saying the most important words. He'd stop and write them on the board for emphasis. (for example: "It was President (scribblescribble) who signed the Declaration of (scribblescribble)...") Well, I couldn't see the board so I'd whisper to my friend and he'd tell me the word. To my teacher, it looked like I was screwing around.
One day he lifted the big map up and uncovered a pop quiz written on the board. Of course I couldn't read it. I sat there, helpless, and looked at my friend who could only shrug in sympathy. Finally I stood up and marched up to the front of the room. I stood to the side, squinted and scribbled the words into my notebook as fast as I could.
BOOM! The teacher barked my name and growled at me to see him after class.
After class he pointedly asked me, “Are you having trouble seeing?” I told him that I was blind as a bat, that my glasses broke months ago and that we couldn't afford to fix them.
He nearly cried. He them told me about the Lion's Club, gave me a phone number and a name and even told me that he'd get me a ride if I needed one.
Long story short, (too late) the Lions bought me a new pair and even paid for an exam.
Years later I called that teacher and thanked him again. He really made a difference in my life. More than the glasses, he helped soften my jaded, pissed off attitude. For the first time I *really* understood the kindness of strangers. To this day, he's one of my most beloved teachers.
But it wasn't only him. When I went to the Lion's Club headquarters I met with several gentlemen and a kinder assembly of men there is not. Not only did they take wonderful care of me, a few of them checked up on me later to see if I needed anything else.
Over the years I've donated to the Lion's Club without batting an eye. (har, har) They're one of the best organizations and I love them dearly. You could do no better. In my view, it also says something about you that they think that you're Lions material. ;-)
What a GREAT story! Thanks for sharing it!
An excellent and touching story. Thank you for telling it.
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