Multiple Clubs and Individual Lions Immediately Responded
JUNE 2021 - LIONS MAGAZINE
Lessons learned:
The 2020-2021 Lion year was not normal, but it is time to review challenges and how we met them. Or didn’t.
Our nation and world were under the Covid-19 pall. However, last summer many clubs found outdoor locations and began developing their capacities with Zoom or GoToMeeting. We held our first hybrid Cabinet meeting in August, courtesy of Rockaway Lions and the Rockaway Catholic Church. With the basic skills hundreds of our Lions acquired this year, we can expect to launch more hybrid events in the future.
Hybrid Cabinet meetings allow attendance by people who otherwise need to drive 1-4 hours. That opens the door for more Lions to join the district committees on programs that interest them. Similarly, the district conventions have shown us great examples of web-based training.
Our Clubs adjusted: turning meal events into to-go drive-throughs (increasing sales!), selling plants through online vouchers to local nurseries, delivering florist orders on holidays, collecting cans and bottles and more. The new ideas will strengthen us even when most are vaccinated, and we can meet again in person.
We faced a month of fire and smoke in September. Multiple clubs and individual Lions immediately responded assisting their neighborhoods and evacuees. Yet I am painfully aware we could have done more. As District and MD Alert (disaster response) co-chair before my governorship, I know how that committee attempted to develop Lion disaster response capacities. We made progress, and joined Oregon VOAD. However, we did not sufficiently prepare clubs to inform District leadership of the conditions (including evacuees) in their own communities. We don’t have a training and response structure.
Keeping track of where the fires were, being ready to evacuate, trying to follow incomplete and often inaccurate online reporting on where evacuees were, and seeking information on what – specifically - was needed (and where) took much time.
I became painfully aware of how difficult it was to do this, investigate grant opportunities and communicate with district and other disaster responders while also keeping up governor responsibilities. I don’t want to see future governors left without a supporting team of Lions committed to Lions disaster response. That is why the Council of Governors has worked to form a MD 36 Lions non-profit: to develop our response capacities and network with relevant community entities ahead of time.
The main objection has been that it might compete with OLSHF. But McDonalds added egg McMuffins to their burger menu; Burger King added chicken and fish. Burger sales didn’t decrease, customers increased because tastes differ. Volunteer activities bring us new members. Disaster Response brings dozens of volunteer opportunities. If we want to build membership, we need to add to our menu. Disaster response is on the LCIF menu, we need to cook more to deliver on our potential.