DATES TO REMEMBER

DATE          DAY                    CLUB                          TIME

July 9           1st Monday             Darien                           7:30 p.m.
July 10         2nd Tuesday            Douglas                      12:30 p.m.
July 12         2nd Thursday           Bloomingdale                7:00 p.m.
July 17         3rd Tuesday             Bulloch                        7:30 p.m.
July 23         4th Monday              Brantley                         Noon
July 24         4th Tuesday             Garden City                  7:30 p.m.
July 26         4th Thursday            Richmond Hill               7:30 p.m.
August 1      1st Wednesday        Clinch County                 Noon
August 6      1st Monday              Baxley                         7:00 p.m.
August 13    2nd Monday             Waycross                       Noon
August 13    2nd Monday             Waycross-Okefenokee   7:30 p.m.
August 14    2nd Tuesday            Kingsland                      7:00 p.m.
August 16    3rd Thursday            Port Wentworth              7:30 p.m.
August 20    3rd Monday             Glennville                        6:30 p.m.

There are three sure signs that an active member is thinking about resigning. Do you know what they are? - Answer is elsewhere in this newsletter.

Alamo Lions Club: No activities reported.

Monthly Membership Reports! Just a reminder, please remember to send your reports for July and each month to DG Jack Kennedy. His mailing address is 215 Allenwood Drive, Statesboro, GA 31419.

"Light the Path" is the 2001-02 International Program for J. Frank Moore III. It is now available on the Web in all 11 official Lion languages. To download the 2001-02 International Program, go to http://www.lionsclubs.org/LCIPubLib/EN/MooreProgram.pdf

The 2001-02 International Program will also be printed in the July/August issue of THE LION Magazine

Recognizing that healthy, educated and caring young people are the future of our communities, our world and our association, 2001-02 has been declared "The Lions Clubs International Year of Youth." Throughout the year, Lions clubs are encouraged to strengthen their commitment to provide young people with opportunities for achievement, learning, contribution and service.

Lions Opportunities for Youth include Leo clubs, International Youth Exchange, Youth Camps, drug awareness, youth volunteering, Scouting, Peace Poster Contest, Special Olympics and programs for literacy, childhood blindness prevention and street children. Watch for information throughout the coming year about how Lions can increase their support and recognition of young people in their communities.

Folks, we are still nettling a shrinking membership roll. At the end of May we had a total of 1,273 members in this district. Even though we took in six new members and one reinstated member in June, we still had a net loss for the month. One club alone dropped 10 members from their rolls. All ten of these members were dropped for non-attendance and non-payment of dues.

When I see this large number of members dropped for this reason I have to ask have we failed these members? Someone must have felt they were quality membership prospects or they would never have been invited to join that Lions Club. What efforts were made to contact these individuals to find out why they were no longer attending or paying their dues? Was something done that made them mad? Why did they stop being good members? The only way to find out the answers to these types of questions is to pick up the telephone, contact them and ask what’s going on. In this case, the loss of 10 members is almost half of the membership of this club.

Each club should have a Membership Committee. Membership on this committee is a three-year commitment. There are a Director of Membership, a one-year member and a two-year member. These positions move up each year. The membership committee should not only be concerned with inviting new members to join the club, they should also be involved with finding out why some members have stopped attending. They are the ones that should make the contact and try to find out what is wrong and why someone is no longer attending. You can’t fix something if you don’t know why it’s broke!

We all need to work on membership! We need to invite new members but more importantly, we need to retain our present members. Remember, membership is everyone’s business!

This month starts a new year in our district. It is again time to make plans for Lions Activities. There is a continuing need for the Lions of District 18-B to support the state charities. Last year the Lions of District 18-B gave a total of $ 34,646.42 to the Lighthouse. Thank you for your support last year. Now the disturbing news. In 1999-2000 we gave $53,310.39 from our district. This is a decrease of $18,663.97. This number is serious and we need to work on this. When you work on your budgets this month. You are urged to consider increasing the amount you send to the Lighthouse. Your support makes it possible for your Lighthouse to provide vision and hearing services for people in your area. Programs are available, contact Lighthouse VP Rick Mizell for more information. More information about the Lighthouse is available at the web site http://galions.org/lighthouse

Attention Club Secretaries: Do not forget to do this report!!! This report is an annual report of the activities of your club. It is not hard to fill out. For example, if your club collected 675 pairs of used eyeglasses during the year, you would just enter the figure “675” in the appropriate block. If you felt each pair of glasses was worth an estimated $5, you would enter the estimated total value of $3,375 in the appropriate block.

Likewise, if your club has worked community service hours for the elderly, crime prevention, disaster relief, recreation or safety, you would just check the appropriate blocks and then enter the total of all hours you worked. It’s really pretty easy to do.

This information is very important to Lions Clubs International and they would like to have this report in their hands not later than July 15. Please take a few minutes to fill this report out and send it in.

If you need a copy of the form, please contact the district governor. You may also download a copy of the form from Lions Clubs International’s web site at: http://www.lionsclubs.org. You may also file the report on line with them if you are filling your membership report on line.

Don’t let this important report slip by. Don’t forget to send a copy to the district governor and to retain a copy for your records.

Clubs: Do you have a collection box for eyeglasses in your local Wal*Mart store?
Wal*Mart has teamed up with Ross Products, the makers of Clear Eyes eye drops, to promote Lions Clubs International's eyeglasses collection program. Clubs are encouraged to place Lions Recycle for Sight boxes or other collection receptacles in Wal*Mart stores. For more information contact your SightFirst chairman.

Does your club have a sound publicity program? There are a number of ways to promote your club to the public at little or no cost. Most local newspaper will publish meeting times and locations in their Community Calendar page. Also you can promote your club on the Internet with free web space. For more information, contact Information Technologies Chairman, Rick Mizell.

Prepared by Mark G. White, President

Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, Inc.

District governors elect and vice district governors elect for MD-18 attended an orientation meeting on June 23, 2001. They were joined by Vice Presidents of the Lighthouse for a tour of the Children’s Eye Care Center at Emory University and the offices of the Lighthouse Foundation, Inc in Decatur, GA. These Lions were welcomed to the Lighthouse by President Mark G. White, Hearing Coordinator Joanna Estroff (nee Rappaport) and Executive Director Linda Hauptfuhrer. The group convoyed to the Emory University campus for a presentation by Mr. David Wolfe, director of development at the Eye Care Center. Later, Dr. Baker Hubbard, a specialist in the human eye retina, described his efforts to correct abnormalities of the eye. Dr. Alan Beck, a specialist in glaucoma research and therapies, followed him. After these discussions, the group toured the research facilities of the Eye Care Center and learned more about genetic research related to the human eye.

The group returned to the Lighthouse for lunch and further discussion of the eyeglass recycling program lead by Past Lighthouse President Ken Massingale. Linda Hauptfuhrer who described the policies of the hearing and sight services programs followed him. President Mark gave a short review of the upcoming program for the year described by the acronym: S. E. E. These letters represent the facets of the program for the year starting July 2001: Sight and Hearing Services, Education, and Endowment. Next President White asked for help in sharing the following important message to the clubs in MD-18. Those clubs wishing to make contributions to the Children’s Eye Care Center at Emory must indicate this desire on the checks made out to the Lighthouse Foundation, Inc. Moreover, we request that you indicate the name of the club to be credited with the donation, and the name and address of a contact person to whom we can send an acknowledging letter. All donations postmarked before April 30, 2002 will be eligible for the Lighthouse awards programs. Please consider increasing your donations to the Lighthouse and to the Children’s Eye Care Center.

Attending the orientation from District 18-B was: District Governor Elect, Jack Kennedy and Evelyn, Vice District Governor Elect, Jerry Kaiser and Brenda, Vice President Elect to the Lighthouse, Rick Mizell, and Past Lighthouse President Jerry Ney.

With the start of the new Lion’s year it is very important that maintain proper communications with our major projects in the state of Georgia. We the Lions of Georgia play an important part in the operation of the Georgia Lions Lighthouse and the Georgia Lions Camp for the Blind. The clubs of District 18-B along with the clubs in all districts in Georgia have representation on the board of directors of both organizations.

Every club has a constitutional right to be represented by a director to both organizations. The appointment of a director to both the Camp and the Lighthouse insures that your club has a voice in the operation of both charities. It also enables both to pass information that your club could use to ensure success in your club activities.

Club Presidents please make your appointments of Associate Directors NOW. When you make your selection, make sure the Lions you select are willing to attend the Board of Directors Meetings. There will be a joint Lighthouse Camp meeting on October 21-22, the Camp will hold its winter meeting, February 2-3, the Lighthouse February 16-17, Locations will be announced.

Please forward your appointments to the Camp and the Lighthouse. Also please copy this information to District Governor Jack Kennedy , Lighthouse Vice President Rick Mizell, or Camp Vice President Billy Marshall.

Due to delays, the State Directories will not be ready in time for the District Cabinet Meeting. Copies of the district directory have been printed and will be available at that time. Information about the district is also available at our website http://galions.org/18b

The three sure signs that an active member is thinking about resigning are:
1. Failure to attend meetings
2. Failure to pay dues
3. Failure to participate in your club’s activities

Your membership chairman should frequently check with the club secretary to monitor the membership for these trouble signs. If they are noticed, intervene immediately to discuss the situation and see if any solutions can be implemented. The lapsing member will appreciate your concern.

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