Governor‘s Comments...

What a busy time I thought when all official visits were completed, the ‘busy’ part of the year would be over. Wrong! Preparing for the Convention, calculating the points contest and visiting Zone, Region and Club meetings is a busy time.

By my measure, we have had a successful year to date. Hopefully we will still get another new Club two started as well as a Leo Club or two. IT IS NOT TOO LATE. New Club will certainly give Governor Jerry a head start on his year and help to ease the membership strain. It is not too late to contribute to every Lions State Project if your Club has not done so. Even a $25.00 contribution can make a difference for the better. You do remember the State Projects, don’t you? The Georgia Lions Camp for the Blind. The Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation. The Children’s Eye Care Clinic at Emory. The International Lions Club Foundation. The Leader Dog School. Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic. They are listed in any special order and all are worthy programs.

There is some good news about Youth-Participation efforts in District 18B for a change. Mostly as the result of DGE Jerry’s good work, PDG Chuck, DGE Jerry and myself were invited to address the entire Evans County High School last week. We discussed Lionism, Liberty Day Georgia and Leo Clubs. We received good responses and inquiry about all programs. We got the impression that there will be good news coming out of the visit.

Lion Evelyn and I were guests at the South Carolina State Lions Convention in North Charleston, South Carolina in late April. Multiple District 32, South Carolina, has four Districts and about 5000 Lions. They were very gracious hosts and treated us very well. On Friday evening the dinner was held aboard the USS Yorktown and the entertainment consisted of an International Dance Review. On Saturday there were District Meetings and Multiple District Meetings very much like ours. Saturday evening the banquet featured Past International President James Coffee as the keynote speaker. As you would gather from his past position, he was an excellent and entertaining speaker. He said: “Continue to do good works and get more members, so you can continue to do good works”.

During the last several weeks of this Lions year I will be revisiting several club, especially those where we were involved in inductions or other programs and did not have the opportunity to tell them why and how they MAKE ME PROUD TO BE A LION.

Even though there are only 7 or 8 weeks left in this Lions Year, there are still many people who need our help. Just because we have a change in leadership and a new fiscal year, the need for help does not take a holiday. We must not relax or slow down in our effort to help!

Although it occurred in May, thus should really be in next weeks newsletter, I must congratulate The Savannah Lions Club for an excellent celebration of their EIGHTIETH ANNIVERSARY! Just think! Eighty years of service in one city! Although there are no charter members left, the same spirit of helping and dedication to service remains. We all should do as well!

AS OF MAY 3^RD, STATE CONV. COMMITTEE HAS SOLD ONLY 35 HOSPITALITY BOOKS TO 18B. WE AVERAGE 132 BOOKS! AS OF MAY 3^RD, THERE WERE 21 ROOMS AVAILABLE ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND 18 ROOMS AVAILABLE ON SAT. NIGHT. (AT OUR SELECTED HOTEL, THE FOUNDARY PARK INN.

I TRULY ENOURAGE YOU TO ATTEND THIS YEAR. WE HAVE THE GEORGIA JAMBOREE SCHEDULED FRIDAY EVENING WITH THE GLASB, AND SEVERAL SEMINARS THROUGHOUT THE CONVENTION, IN ADDITION TO THE ‘BUSINESS’ MEETING AND MEALS.

The International Board met at Amelia Island April 6-10, 2002. Several actions were taken WHICH OF ARE INTEREST TO district 18B

. A few of note were: Proposed amendment to C&B changing Int. Dir. Candidate filing time from 90 days to 30 days.( 7 open this year, 6 filed). Proposal to diversify Emergency Fund Investments.( to take advantage of market trends and hopefully earn more interest.)

Trust Committee of Lighthouse recently changed its mix of investments for same reason.

Combined PIP, PID, and DG, PDG Banquets at International Convention AND OPENED BANQUET TO ALL LIONS. Rather than having two or three Banquets as in past Conventions.

Revised policy to allow participation in Flag Ceremony for all areas that have approved flag.

Approved CHARTER CANCELLATIONS OF 307 CLUBS

Approved Hindi translation of Assoc. Basic publications over next three years.( reflects the growing number of Lions in Indian sub-Continent

Budget for 2002/2003 International Program approved. Three million deficient! No bills unpaid, etc. Enough $ in Reserve Fund to pay, but spending more than coming in! Reflects loss of members and ambitious program planned by IPE Fukushima. Basically a very aggressive Extension program with cash incentives for Gov and District possible. Gov. Jerry will inform in July.

Finance & HQ requested that C&B change allow investment of Emergency Reserve Fund.

LCIF approved 69 grants of $2,959,940. Seven tabled, two denied.

LCIF selling Treasury notes, investing $30M in short-term bonds, balance in money market funds.

Changed next Senior Lions Leadership Institute from Oak Brook to Fort Worth in conjunction with USA/CANADA FORUM

Changed guidelines for Regional Institutes to require that at least one faculty member have International Training Experience. Opened participation to any Leo 18 years or older and anyone who is or has been VDG.

Placed PCC after International Treasurer on protocol list.

Kept alive the negotiations for LCI to purchase the Quest Program outright.

Remember! Knowledge is power so the more we know, the more we will be able TO SERVE.

It is time once again to start plans for a new Lion’s year of service. During the past year the Executive committee of the Lighthouse put together a job description of its officers, directors, and committee members. Listed below are the descriptions of Associate Directors of the clubs. This is your representative that you choose to represent your club at all Lighthouse meetings. The next Lighthouse meeting will be at the state convention on Friday, May 24 starting at 2:15 p.m. Incoming Club Presidents are reminded to make your appointments by August and report them to the Lighthouse and the District Governor. Prompt reporting earns points on the District Governor’s Points Contest and will allow your Lighthouse to communicate effectively with your club.

Job Description—Associate Director

Each Lions Club in the state shall appoint a member in good standing of the club to be an associate director to the Lighthouse Foundation. The associate director is a point of communications between the club and the Foundation. The associate director has the following duties and privileges:

The associate directors may also be considered for appointments to other offices and duties in the Lighthouse Foundation with the nomination from the Directors or Vice President in the District.

The following positions of service to the Lighthouse for 2002-2003 are to be appointed.

Job Description—District Director– Each District shall appoint 1 director for a three year term. The duties of the Director are similar to that of the club appointed director except he/she is representing the district and may be asked to assist club directors in Lighthouse presentations and to also assist the Vice President in leadership development. The Vice Governor and District Governor are also Directors of the Lighthouse.

The following committees are also filled each year.

Awards Committee– Purpose is to acknowledge Lions or Lions Clubs who have excelled in service and to encourage others to service.

Buildings and Grounds– Purpose is to maintain the assets in good working order

Children’s Eye Care Center– Purpose is to promote the Center to the district and to encourage fund raisers for this cause

Constitution and Bylaws– Purpose is to maintain a legal document that serves the Lions of Georgia in maintaining order in the Lighthouse.

Hearing Conservation– Purpose is to encourage hearing conservation to the general public.

Finance Committee– Purpose is to account for expenses and to properly forecast needs in the future.

Long Range Planning– Purpose is to develop a 5 year plan for Lighthouse and to benchmark the progress of the plan.

Nominations and Elections– Purpose is to certify candidates for elections and to administer the same.

Personnel– Purpose is to assist the president in determining raises, hiring of new personnel, administering employee benefits, resolving problems.

Public Relations– Purpose is to articulate the work of the Lighthouse and its mission/vision to the public.

Public Support– Purpose is to solicit funds from the public sector.

Sight Conservation– Purpose is to encourage sight conservation to the general public.

Ten Million Dollar Club– Purpose is to build the endowment to $10 million.

White Cane Day– Purpose is to coordinate the annual White Cane Day event and to help all clubs participate in this event.

Appointment of members to these committees will occur during the State Convention in Athens. Appointees are asked to attend the board of directors meetings in the Fall and Winter and represent the committee they are assigned. Please see Lion Rick Mizell if you are interested in serving on a committee. Your help is appreciated.

Elected Officers are Vice President (2 year term) and Trustees (3 per district for a 3 year term, 1 elected each year at the Winter Board Meeting.)

Dear fellow Lion,

It's been some time I have not sent any information about the work of the Euro Latin-American Committee with the help of the European Internet Lions Club. I must say that we are receiving some very interesting projects to be sponsored and that our second joint effort with LCIF has been giving a very important result.

I would like to extract part of the:

"FINAL REPORT RELATED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF CLASSROOMS IN THE SCHOOLS THAT WERE DAMAGED BY THE EARTHQUAKE THAT THE CITIES OF THE SOUTH OF PERU SUFFERED LAST YEAR."

"WE HAVE ALREADY FINISH 10 CLASSROOMS FOR 35 TO 40 STUDENTS TO BE USED IN 3 SHIFTS PER DAY. WE ARE BUILDING 20 MORE CLASSROOMS. GUSTAVO FRAGA FROM LCIF CAME TO PERU TO DELIVER THE FIRST 10 CLASSROOMS. HE CAN EXPLAIN YOU MORE ABOUT THE WORK THAT WAS DONE, BY THE PRESIDENTE OF THE LIONS CLUB OF MOQQUE GUA, LUDOMILIA VALDIVIESO, WITH THE LIONS OF HER CLUB DOING AN EXCELLENT JOB PUTTING THE CEMENT FLOOR WERE THE CLASSROOMS WERE BUILD. THESE CLASSROOMS ARE PRE-FABRICATED BUT WITH PERMANENT MATERIALS AS PAST PRESIDENT BEHAR AS CHAIRMAN OF LCIF ASK US.

LCIF APPOINTED A COMMITTEE THAT INCLUDE PID BRIGNETI, THE COUNCIL CHAIRMAN CHOY AND THE DISTRICT GOVERNOR ILSE RUIZ CARO AND MYSELF.

THE DONATIONS THAT WE HAS THROUGH LCIF READS AS FOLLOW:

MARK BULARZIK FROM, LCIF HAS HELP US A LOT AND HAS ALL THE DETAILS AS HOW THE DONATIONS WERE MADE.

As you can all see this is the second major project (after the earthquake of El Salvador) where we have done a joint venture to do a mayor project with the support of LCIF, this is the objective of this committee, to coordinate efforts and give the possibility for the European Lions do something together with out a moral obligation, in a totally voluntary bases. To see the pictures of the work done, go to: http://www.lionseuropa.net/comite/peru_moquegua.htm#ENG  

With nothing else to say, except to ask you to pass on this information to all the lions you think could be interested in this matter.

International Relations MD 116 Spain

PR Quicktakes
from www.lionsclubs.org

"Thank you" and "You are appreciated" are two things that people often like to hear. This is perhaps why many Lions have been so successful in placing positive mentions of their Lions clubs in the "Letters to the Editor" sections of their local newspapers.

By simply writing a letter to the editor, you can expand upon already-existing publicity and show people, who may not already know, what your club is doing or has done. In a letter to the editor, which appeared in the Jonesboro Sun on January 6, 2002, Lion Charles Hartwig of Jonesboro, Pennsylvania, USA, writes, "Thank you for printing the Bob Greene column entitled 'To bring light where there is darkness'." Lion Hartwig goes on to reiterate information from Greene's article mentioning Lions assistance after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, New York, USA, and where people can go to donate their eyeglasses and time to Lions Clubs International.

Letters to the editor can also be used to thank sponsors and contributors who have assisted either financially or otherwise with specific Lions projects. Barbara J. Wessel of the Auburn Classic Lions Club in Auburn, Indiana, USA wrote in a letter to the editor of the Star, "The Auburn Classic Lions Club would like to thank all the teams, sponsors and contributors that made the second annual Charity Golf Outing a success." She goes on to explain how the proceeds would be used, to thank all of the companies that contributed and the volunteers and to announce winners from the event. In addition to expressing gratitude, this letter serves a number of purposes including gaining more exposure for the event, encouraging contributors to participate again and encouraging non-participants to consider supporting this and other Lions projects in the future.

The Lions of District 20-Y2 got together to create an ad that featured Lions Recycle for Sight drop-off locations, who Lions clubs are and how one can become a Lions member. Their local community paper, the Albany Time-Union (New York, USA), ran the ad as a public service at no charge.

Many newspapers will provide space for non-profit organizations at no charge or for a reduced rate. Contract your local newspaper advertising manager for information. Your club can either create an ad similar to District 20-Y2 or personalize an ad from the Public Awareness Print Ad Kit (PR-766), available from the Public Relations Department by calling (630) 571-5466, ext. 358 or 363, or e-mail [email protected] .

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