Springfield Southeast Lions Club
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                       Let's Celebrate Our Miracles and Heroes

Do you believe in miracles? Do you know any heroes? Every Lion certainly can answer "yes" to both of these questions. All he or she needs to do to see the miracles is to take part in one of our service projects. The heroes are the Lions.

Maybe we've seen too many movies or read too many flattering profiles of heroes and expect a hero to be larger than life and miracles to be supernatu­ral. But I believe heroes are part of everyday life and miracles happen in the ordinary course of a day. I learned at an early age from my parents about the importance of service and how members of a community can contribute to their community. Later, as a young Lion, I learned how a club's many acts of service, however small and seemingly commonplace and unremarkable, add up to something very significant and valuable.

During my presidential year I will salute Lions for performing miracles of service and for being everyday heroes. I will promote some of our Lions' pro­grams in particular and focus on membership (see page 25) but I want to emphasize that our biggest asset is our members. It's you. It's you in California. It's you in Canada. It's you in China, France and Paraguay. It's the clubs in Germany, Russia and India. It's the Lions in Japan, South Africa and Brazil.

Lions do the heavy lifting. You decide how effective Lions are. You exemplify who Lions are. Unfortunately, probably due to a certain humility, individual Lions tend to downplay their importance. "I'm just one Lion." No, you're not. You are Lions. "I'm just a club officer." No, you're playing your part. You're doing service. "We're just a small club." No, you are the club in your commu­nity that your community can't do without. If your community were to lose you, your community would be worse off in so many ways.

All of you are miracle workers. You are a fantastic part of a worldwide organization dedicated to improving the lives of millions. There is nothing I can say to make this more of a miracle other than to thank you, to encourage you and wish you the very best this year in making more miracles.

Albert F. Brandel. President
    The International Association of Lions Clubs

                      

                   
  Challenging Times Call for Prudent Change

Lions in India perform service by combining ancient healing practices 'With the most modern technology. The Mumbai Su Jok Lions Club promotes relief from pain and disease through   Su Jok therapy, which involves stimulation of the hands and feet. Lions have made videos on this self-help treatment method that can be found on You Tube, Yahoo video and other popular video sharing Web sites. The videos raise awareness of Lions and also foster donations and lead to new members.

Give credit for these Lions in India for being innovative, progressive and entrepreneurial. It's highly unlikely your club is prepared to create a video on Su Jok or even a video on any other topic. But there is no reason your club cannot be similarly innovative, progressive and entrepreneurial.

Lions, we are faced with challenging times. Membership is a concern. We need to attract more members. We need to appeal to younger people. We need to reach out to women. We remain the greatest service organization in the world. But it is true that there is strength in numbers. We can do more with more members.

Change does not come easily for any large organization. This is especially true for one with a history as long and as successful .as Lions Clubs International. But change should not be feared. We will stay true to our funda­mental ideals while creatively adapting to a world in transition.

The experience of the Mumbai Su Jok Lions Club is instructive. They part­nered with the Ministry of Defense to conduct classes on Su Jok; the plan is to train more than 100,000 cadets. The Lions used their standing in the communi­ty to wisely reach out to another important community member. They leveraged their skills and social ties.

Every club has talents and connections it can leverage. The idea is to engage others, to be pro-active, to link to people and groups that further our service aims as well as help spur membership growth. Please don't dwell on how you currently do things. Dream about new ways to provide service, hold meetings and build membership. Tap into your club's talents and its creativity. Other clubs have done it successfully and your club can do it, too. The only thing holding us back from growth is ourselves. Let's build on the past to create a great future for Lions in your community and worldwide.

Sincerely,
Lion Mahendra  Amarasuriya Past
President The International Association of Lions Club.