Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International is a service club founded in 1917. The seat is now located in Oak Brook, Illinois. The international institution with 1,347,403 members (as of July 1, 2013 ) in 46 238 clubs in 208 countries and territories (including 1,635 ladies clubs, women 24.88 %), the largest membership service club organization in the world. For comparison: in 1982 around 1.371 million members from 156 countries worldwide were organized in more than 36,000 clubs who achieved a valued donations of around 3 billion DM.

The first European Lions Clubs were founded in Sweden and in Switzerland ( Geneva and Zurich ) in 1948. In Europe there was on 1 July 2013 in 9654 club 262 678 members (including 573 women clubs, women 19.41 %). The first Lions Club was founded in Germany on December 5, 1951 in Dusseldorf, and has the Club # 21 602 On July 1, 2013 had the 1523 German Lions Clubs (of which 527 mixed and 98 women's clubs ) 51,150 members (including 6,800 women, women 13.29 %), which are divided into 19 separate districts. For comparison: in 1982 there were in the Federal Republic of Germany 20,603 members and recorded an estimated amount of donations of 35 million DM

  • 3.1 Admission of Members
  • 3.2 New Century Lions Clubs
  • 3.3 University Clubs
  • 3.4 organizational levels

General

The Lions Club was founded as an organization with pure gentleman's club. The Lions Club " Buten un within " in Bremen became the first club in Germany in 1989 women. Today we also have ladies clubs and mixed clubs where men and women will receive. The basic principle of clubs similar to the Rotary International inasmuch as in every single club many different occupational groups should be represented.

The main activities of the club are - mostly non-public - lectures and discussions. In public, Lions Clubs occur mainly in connection with fund-raising, which is about as opposed to Germany is not uncommon in the U.S. for the work of a charity.

Politically and religiously neutral to give the members to the outside.

The motto

The name LIONS is the same acronym for the English motto: " Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nation 's Safety " (German: "Liberty, Intelligence, security of our nation ").

The motto

The official motto of the Association is " We serve " (English ) or " We Serve". Thus, any Lions member is obligated to provide service to others about his personal profit.

The Founder

Melvin Jones ( born January 13, 1879 in Fort Thomas, Arizona, USA, † June 1, 1961 ), a Chicago insurance salesman and secretary of "The Business Circle", founded Lions Clubs International. The June 7, 1917, the date of the meeting convened by him association, is the official founding date. In 1945 he represented the Lions Clubs International at the United Nations in San Francisco ( California). His philosophy of life was: "you can not get very far until you start doing something for somebody else" ( " You can not get very far until you start doing something for others" ), Melvin Jones was also a member of the Garden City Lodge No. 141 of the Masons in Chicago.

Officials

Each club has the following officers, who are seeking a global definition of the Lions year each from 1 July to 30 June of the following year in office:

  • President
  • Vice - President ( and possibly 2nd Vice - President )
  • Last year's President ( Past President )
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Clubmaster

The Executive Board, various club officers ( eg for Activities, Members Questions, Youth and Leos, public relations, webmaster, youth, youth exchanges, Lions Quest representative, Klasse2000 officer, kindergarten plus, seniors, Sight First, drugs, International Relations, recruitment, environmental protection) are at your side. The leadership positions (President, Governor, International President ) are purely honorary basis and are usually taken only for a year.

Membership Programs / Club forms

Admission of Members

In most clubs can only Member who has received an explicit invitation to ( co-optation ) of the club. The procedures may vary slightly from club to club.

All Lions Clubs have the goal to do good in friendly cooperation. Therefore, emphasis is placed on an altruistic, cosmopolitan setting. The political opinions, religion or national origin in the selection procedure of the candidates have no bearing on how the club life.

The Lions Clubs try a balanced mix of occupations in the club to achieve. In contrast to business clubs should not be the personal success of the male members, but the commitment to the common good in the foreground. The use of the Lions network for business purposes is therefore undesirable.

Women were not admitted until 1986 as members. The decision to open membership to women, a parallel event no judicial proceedings against Rotary International has played a role; in the course of this process in 1987, the previous practice of Rotary not to allow women prohibited in the last instance on the basis of anti-discrimination laws.

New Century Lions Clubs

New Century Lions Club will receive a special emblem, on the charter application, the Lions pins, member certificates and other club documents is shown. Within the first seven years after the founding of the club only women and men are allowed to be a member up to and including 35 years. Members during their membership exceeding the age of 35, but can remain a member of the club. The members shall have the same rights, benefits and obligations as all other recognized Lions members.

The New Century Lions Club must meet the following foundation requirements:

  • Intake of 20 members
  • Confirmation of a sponsoring club, the zone, region or district cabinet or district committee
  • Approval by the district governor
  • All other requirements for the formation of Lions Clubs

The first New Century Lions Club Germany is the New Century Lions Club of Dresden, which was chartered formally established on 22 February 2005 and on 13 May 2005. The New Century Club Berlin - Victoria became the second German club of its kind after its creation in 2010, no other New Century Lions Club were founded in Germany.

University clubs

University clubs are offered to students, professors and employees and related parties of the university / college. Thus, this club art forms naturally a bridge between Leos and Lions, as many Leos change at the start of the study in a university club. The work of these clubs is naturally limited to the campus as well as the environment of the educational institution. Members have access to intensive leadership training so that they learn how a project is managed, how to conduct a session and what opportunities for community development are usually. University clubs bring together belonging to a university student, to confront current problems and to influence the life in the university environment and the surrounding borough positive. With the many service opportunities there may be programs to combat drugs, support for disabled students, mentoring, and participating in Habitat for Humanity projects.

Worldwide there are 125 university clubs with approximately 2,500 members. Within Germany, pure university clubs are hardly represented. So there is ever a Campus Lions Club in Heidelberg, Garching and in Neu-Ulm. In 2012, the first University Club was founded at a German university in Neu-Ulm.

Organizational levels

All clubs belong to a particular zone, this consists of four to eight clubs. Each zone is facing the so-called Zone Chairperson. These assume a consulting activities and oversees the creation of new clubs. Zones are combined into one district, which is headed by a district governor. A district must have at least 35 clubs and 1,250 members. Districts are grouped into a total or multiple district. These cover, in principle, with the national boundaries. In every continent, the districts are numbered in chronological order of their creation. Thus Sweden has the number 101, Switzerland / Liechtenstein 102, France 103, Germany 111, and Austria 114 Annually District Assemblies ( DV) and conferences in which Lions members can exchange experiences and elect officers.

In total district level each year, a constituent Multiple District Convention ( GDV) occurs. Every year, representatives of the European Lions in Europe forums meet to exchange ideas. The first European forums found in 1958 in Venice and Lucerne. Each year, about 20-30,000 delegates from around the world in a different country to the so -called " International Convention "; the first annual world convention in Europe was in 1962 in France. 2013 - the first time after 96 years of the founding of the Lions Community - took place in Germany, namely in Hamburg, an " International Convention " instead. Lions Clubs International is divided into seven constitutional areas:

Projects

  • Sight First -Activity: global program to combat preventable blindness.
  • Kindergarten Plus program to promote the child's personality in kindergarten children.
  • Class 2000: health promotion program in primary school children.
  • Lions Quest Activity: program to promote the personal development of young people.
  • International youth camps and youth exchanges.
  • SODIS: a method of solar disinfection of drinking water, which is sponsored by Lions Clubs International.
  • Peace Poster Contest: recurring annual international competition for children 11 to 13 years on the subject of peace in the world.
  • Music Competition: International promotion of talented young people.
  • League for Mature: lobbies and develops models for support and care for a delay in the age dependence.
  • Lions Young Ambassador: Lions Youth Ambassador competition. Promoting young people to volunteer for other

In addition, the activities of the more than 45,000 clubs worldwide ( eg helping people in need, Disabled projects, health promotion, promotion of youth and education, promotion and preservation of culture, and others).

Oak Brook (Illinois) Leo clubs Co-option Altruism The Bahamas Middle America (region) Solar water disinfection Integrated Authority File
514972
de