PAST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR GARY FRY

A Message from Past International Director GARY FRY
Over $6 million has been donated by Lions to the disaster in Japan. Another example of the difference we can make in the world by serving together. Every dollar of donations to this disaster goes to help people. None of the money donated is used for administrative expense like some other agencies.

This has been a year of many changes, some positive and some hard to understand. Together we as Lions are making a very significant difference in our communities and around the world. Thanks for all that you do in practicing our motto "WE SERVE".

International President Dr. Tam is stressing family this year. We are a family of Lions and do many thiings with our family members. There are many new awards that clubs and individuals can receive for simply increasing our dedication to WE Serve. The reason we belong to this great association is to provide service. By providing more service we can recruit more people to join us in our efforts. How can you increase your personal service this coming year and how can you encourage your club and club members to do the same? How can our family do an even better job than we ever done before?

Is your spouse or significant other a Lion? Do you get satisfaction in being a member of the world's largest service organization? Sometimes in our search for new member candidates we fail to see those most dear to us. Additional family members living at the same address and members of the same club get special dues considerations. Give your significant other a chance to serve with you.

Looking for a way to make your club even more viable? The new "Club Excellence Process" recently released by Lions Clubs International offers many ways to strengthen clubs. Recently four workshops were held in District SW for the first session and the second session was held during the District Convention. 65 Lions participated from a number of clubs. Could something like this help your Club or District? The program calls for clubs to brainstorm together with other clubs to make changes in how we do things. If you are interested in finding out more, please let me know. We are in the process of setting dates for workshops in 2011. Plan to attend when the workshop is in your area.

It only takes five people to start a Branch Club. If you have ever been turned down while recruiting a potential member because your meeting time was not convenient, here is an answer.

There is still plenty of time to add more clubs this year. Do you know of an area? Let the State Office know. Can we add at least five more new club before July 1, 2012? we need to start now if this is going to happen.

In order to insure that the Iowa KidSight Program continues in the years to come, a committee is establishing and endowment fund to help with future funding needs. Every year the program continues to grow with over 30,000 children now being screened annually. With 35,000 children entering Kindergarten each year, we still have a ways to go to reach our goal of every child being screened prior to starting to school.

If you need more information about the Iowa KidSight program contact KidSight@uiowa.edu. or the State Office at iowalions@aol.com. To date over 200,000 children screened since "Iowa KidSight" began. Think of the children that today see better than they might have before being screened. Over 7,000 children have been referred to Eye Care Professionals here in Iowa during the time of this Lion program. The next time someone asks you "What do Lions do?", please share this information. There were 1089 screenings at the 2010 Iowa State Fair which gives us a great start on increasing the number of screenings in 2010-2011. If you would be interested in helping with the screenings please let Lori Short in Iowa City know.

Thanks for all you do for your clubs, communities, multiple districts , Lions Clubs International and the less fortunate of the world.

You may contact GARY FRY via email at frygj35@msn.com