A Message from Council Chair BENJAMIN NEIDEIGH

It is great to be a member of the largest service organization in the world, the Lions Club. Partnering with the University of Iowa in the Iowa KidSight Program has been one of the most exciting programs that I have experienced since joining lions. Our donor programs, hearing aid programs, Camp Courageous, Camp Hertko Hollow, Iowa School for the Deaf, Iowa Department for the Blind, Leader Dogs for the Blind and our glasses recycling centers are just a few of the projects that we are involved in as Lions. Through the Iowa Lions Foundation, we work with many agencies to fulfill our motto, “We Serve.”

To be a part of the Lions Clubs International Foundation with 1.4 million Lions’ members in 194 countries is overwhelming. Together we can tackle tough problems like river blindness, diabetes awareness and sight awareness through Campaign Sight First II. We can provide immediate and sustained relief in time of disaster and offer long-term assistance to those in need.

Membership is a vital part of our program. It is important that we identify those communities and people within them that would benefit from being members of our Lions Clubs. We need to keep in mind while we are expanding our membership that it is extremely necessary to keep focused in a couple of areas. Meetings often get us bogged down and become boring. We must make sure that what we do in our clubs has a definite purpose and that the members are having fun doing it. We need to involve new members in our clubs. So often a new member will walk in the front door and almost immediately exit the rear door.

Leo Clubs and Campus Clubs are both areas we need to develop. They are the lifeblood of our Lions Clubs. Many high schools require students anymore to have so many hours of documented service before they can graduate, so it seems to be a way that we can offer our schools something extra. Youth is extremely important to the growth of our organization and it would be ideal for those Leos to be able to move into a Campus Club when they attend a university. The next step would be into our local clubs in the future. We need to draw on the vast wisdom of our other Lions to mentor the newest members and to make them feel welcome into our clubs.

Why are we Lions? International Director Dave Stoufer tells this story. In relating it to you, the story does not do justice that the heartwarming message ID Dave emits in his broken voice. In years past a club decided that they were going to get a child hearing aids and in that day and age they were the large ones that fit over the ears. When the day came that the young man was to go to Iowa City to pick them up, his parents were unable to go with him. One of the Lion members volunteered to drive him over to Iowa City.

As they were leaving the University Hospitals, our proud Lion member had only one thing on his mind and that was to buy his new friend an ice cream cone to celebrate the day. But as he was walking along, he noticed the boy was not with him. So he turned to look behind him and there the young man was, looking up in a tree.

As he approached him, he asked the lad if there was something wrong. The boy said as he glanced at a bird on one of the branches, “No, I knew they said something.”

People across the world are gearing up to make a difference in their community. Everything thing that we do as a Lion makes us proud to be a member of that great organization. Lions across the world make a difference everyday.

BENJAMIN NEIDEIGH's Personal Biography.