Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organisation with members in 189 countries around the world.

It was founded in the U.S.A. in 1917 by Melvin Jones and became truly International on March 12, 1920 when the Border Cities Lions Club was established in Ontario, Canada.

Spread of Lionism

• 1917 U.S.A.
• 1920 Canada
• 1926 Nationalist China (Tientsin, today: Tianjin)
• 1927 Mexico (Nuevo Laredo)
• 1927 Cuba (Havana)

• 2002 Communist China (Guangdong and Shenzhen, chartered on May 14 are the first international service clubs to be granted permission by the government of the People's Republic of China to operate in mainland China)

Lions Clubs International has had a history of support for the work of the United Nations since that Organisation's inception in 1945, when it was one of the non-governmental organisations invited to assist in the drafting of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco.

Lions are recognized worldwide for their service to the blind and visually impaired. This service began when Helen Keller addressed the International Convention at Cedar Point, Ohio on June 30, 1925 and charged Lions to be 'Knights to the Blind'.

In response to that challenge:

• Lions were instrumental in having the white cane recognised as a symbol of the blind.
• Lions established and support a majority of the world's eye banks, hundreds of clinics, hospitals and eye research centers worldwide.
• Lions collect more than 5 million pairs of used eyeglasses each year for distribution in developing countries