President’s Message

As we begin this new Lions Club year we look back at a year of tremendous growth and forward to a continuation and expansion of the Lake Waccamaw club. As with any challenge there are great opportunities. Certainly we must continue to find more members who share our desire to work collectively for the improvement of our local community and the wider community that spreads throughout the world through Lionism. But we will also be looking at ways that each individual Lion can contribute and expand his own service. Whether we are a club of a few or many, each member is important. Each of us has some unique quality that we can bring to this club. That talent may not be obvious to fellow members nor to others in the community but it is there lying dormant waiting to be used. I hope that each of us will look beyond just attending meetings (as great as that fellowship may be) and step beyond the ordinary and commonplace role of just being apart of another organization.

In a broader sense we are part of a universal effort that says that we can do more collectively than we can as individuals. That’s what organizations like the Lions Club are about. Our effort to help a blind person in our community to see, to help one child overcome neglect and abuse, to provide food for one family, is combined with other Lions Clubs who make similar efforts with the result that we, each one of us, as part of this organization, can make a difference in this world. That is no small effort.

Service does not benefit only those who are the recipients of the service. The servant is also the beneficiary because he becomes apart of the lives of all those he touches. The poet Tennyson said, “I am a part of all that I have met,” so we as Lions become a part of the lives of those we serve and they become a part of ours.

We have made great strides toward the revitalization of the Lake Waccamaw Lions Club.
Our numbers have grown and I hope they will continue to grow. We were almost non-existent just a couple of years ago. We have come so far but we still have a long way to go. At the end of this year I hope our success will be measured not by the heights to which we have risen but by the depths from which we have climbed.

Club President – Bill Thompson

NCLF

North Carolina Lions Foundation (NCLF), what is it and how does it operate. I know that you have often heard this term mentioned at your meetings and in written material. The NCLF is the umbrella organization of all the Lions Clubs in North Carolina. The foundation administers service programs as directed by the local Lions. The President of the foundation is Stewart Wooten from the Asheboro Lions Club, a volunteer that does not receive any compensation for his time that he provides to the organization. He is assisted by a Board of Directors (all volunteer) which is made up of the District Governors, 1st Vice District Governors and the Immediate Past District Governors. The day-to-day management of the foundation is performed by a staff of 8 individuals. The Executive Director of the NCLF is Steve Walker. The annual budget of the NCLF is approximately $1.3 million. The physical location of the foundation is 7050 Camp Dogwood Drive, PO Box 39, Sherrills Ford NC 28673.

On June 13, 2011 the Board of Directors approved a name change from the North Carolina Lions Foundation to the North Carolina Lions, Incorporated (NCLI). The primary reason behind the change was to allow the NC Lions to seek donations and grants from other Foundations. Many foundations would not provide grants to another foundation such as the NC Lions Foundation. To continue the many Lions Programs and Services we must find additional revenue sources. The name change will not result in any changes to the services and activities of the organization.

Listed below are the various service programs that the Lions provide with administrative and financial help by the NCLI.
Camp Dogwood, Clinical Eye Research, Educational Grants, Vision Van, Matching Funds, Hearing Aids, White Canes, Radio Reading Service, VIP Fishing Tournament, Recycling Glasses, Service Grants, Organ and Tissue Procurement, Campbell’s Soup Labels, Recycling Print Cartridges, Recycling Low Vision Aids, Governor Morehead School for the Blind and Services for the Blind Mini Centers.

I hope that this gives you a little better understanding of what the NCLF is and how it functions. I will expand on some of these service programs in future articles.

Vince Schimmoller, 2nd Vice Dist. Governor

Hong Kong Business Leader Elected – Lions Clubs International President: First from China

OAK BROOK, IL, USA, July 8, 2011 — Wing-Kun Tam, from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), The People’s Republic of China, was elected president of The International Association of Lions Clubs at the association’s 94th International Convention, held in Seattle, Washington, USA, July 4-8, 2011. He is the first person from China to serve as international president of the world’s largest service club organization.

Tam is the chairperson of a world-wide group of air transportation companies. He is active in many government and community organizations.

As international president, Tam will lead the association that has 1.35 million members in more than 45,000 clubs in 206 countries and geographic areas around the world. He will also help set the direction for Lions Clubs International Foundation and the foundation’s SightFirst Program, a US$415 million effort to rid the world of preventable and reversible blindness.

Tam has been a member or chairperson of numerous boards and committees of the Hong Kong government. He served as Hong Kong District Affairs Advisor before the establishment of the SAR in 1997. He has been the Hong Kong Convention Ambassador since 1995 and he is a Justice of the Peace in Hong Kong. He is also the appointed Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kenya in the Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR.

A member of the Mt. Cameron Lions Club since 1981, Tam has held many offices in Lions Clubs International, including Campaign SightFirst multinational coordinator, SightFirst China Action executive chairperson and 2005 honorary International Convention Host Committee chairperson.

Tam is the recipient of Her Majesty the Queen’s Badge of Honor, the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and the Bronze Bauhinia Star from the British and Hong Kong SAR governments.

Lions clubs are known for their efforts to preserve sight and eradicate blindness, as well as their commitment to community service and helping youth. To learn more about Lions Clubs International, visit http://www.lionsclubs.org.