Beginning in Chicago in 1917, the association of Lions clubs has provided millions of people with the opportunity to give something back their communities.  The Lions Motto is "We Serve" - doing whatever is necessary to help our local communities. Our Vision is "to be the global leader in community and humanitarian service. Our Mission Statement is "to empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through Lions clubs."

Lions Clubs International has over 48,000 clubs and 1.4 million members which makes us the world's largest service club organization.  Lions Clubs are located in 206 countries and geographic areas.
 
Known for working to end preventable blindness, Lions also participate in a vast variety of projects important to their communities.

Vision Programs:

In 1925, Helen Keller challenged Lions to become "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness" during the association's international convention. Today Lions are recognized worldwide for their service to the blind and visually impaired. Lions demonstrate their commitment to sight conservation through eyeglass recycling, sight partnerships, and countless other sight services. The Lions ambitious "SightFirst I & II Programs has restored sight through cataract surgeries, prevented serious vision loss and improved eye care services for hundreds of millions of adults and children.

Lions Clubs International Foundation:

In 1968 Lions Club International established their foundation, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) to assist Lions with global and large-scale local humanitarian projects.  Through our Foundation, Lions meet the needs of their local and global communities. The LCIF helps Lions improve peoples' lives around the world, from combating vision problems to responding to major catastrophes to providing valuable life skills to youth. Because LCIF helps Lions carry out large-scale projects through our grant programs, Lions increase their impact in their local and global communities and serve even more people in need around the world.

The LCIF grants, on average, $40 million annually, with a goal of raising $50 million annually.  Since it was founded the LCIF has awarded more than one billion dollars in grants to fund more than 13,000 projects.  In 2007, the LCIF was named the number 1 non-governmental organization worldwide with which to partner, according to a Financial Times independent survey.

The LCIF's major areas of focus are: sight, youth, disaster and humanitarian efforts.  At the Lions 2017 International Convention in Chicago, the LCIF added a new area of focus, the global epidemic of diabetes. There are 420 million people that live with diabetes.  The cause will be the fifth main focus for Lions during the next five to ten years.  

 

Lions Clubs International's Global Causes: Diabetes, Vision, Hunger, Environment, and Childhood Cancer