Call On Your Own Capacity for Kindness

Year 2020: Can I have my deposit back?

     Complainants: Reasons for refund request: We grant problems from 2019 – like where is “truth”. Social media?  Mainstream media? What you can see? Institutional peer reviewed expertise? Séance science? 2019 had a bad “what is reality” virus. And our U.S. President under impeachment charges. So January 2020 had “pre-existing conditions”.

     But then February brought “the COVID”. Unexpected - some people said it was a hoax. March-May brought The Shutdown. Dislocating, unfair. We want a refund.

     2020 replies: U.S.A. administrations from G.W.Bush on AIDs and Obama on Ebola faced disease. In 2019 HHS and Homeland Security ran an exercise in 12 states and Washington D.C. on a (hypothesized) flu epidemic beginning in China. The October 2019 draft report showed preparation problems COVID proved. Who listened? Oregon Lions Disaster Response Committee has been trying to get Oregon Lions to prepare for disasters for 10 years. Ignore the warnings on the package you don’t get a refund.

     2020: this country was born with racism as the basis for extracting labor from some people to benefit slaveholders and placating non-slaveholders (many of whom also profited) with myths of their “superiority.” Some people of all colors opposed that from the start. Not a problem 2020 created. Most 2020 Oregon protesters just wanted a level playing field. Police? They are supposed to be trained to use violence to protect citizens; yet abuse of that power is a global challenge race or ethnic prejudices make worse. Oregon Lions who are or have been police know that. Lions International President Dr. Jung-Yul Choi made Diversity his theme in 2019-2020. For 2020-2021 he said: Kindness and Diversity. Let’s go there.

     Grant 2020 has been stressful –too many “Chickens coming home to roost.” Nevertheless, meanwhile our family, friend and Lion circles also experienced private heartbreaks. Some lost jobs, lost sight, fought cancer, suffered crime or suicide. No one gets time or people back. We live irreparable loss. Opening our arms and working together can help. Kindness heals.

     For this season, recognize the stress and possible heartbreak in everyone you see and call on your own capacity for Kindness in connecting with other Lions, friends, and family members. Fellowship is a major reason Lions give for their staying with their Clubs. Remember, under stress, people often criticize quickly, without having full information of details or the load the other person is carrying. Listen without passing judgment – even when you’re the target. Empathize with feelings and frustration, don’t rush to confirm or deny “facts” (especially if you’re not sure of them.) For yourself, find someone you can vent to, who will keep quiet. Could be a fellow Lion. Defuse first. Find ways to address the problem after.

     Patience is a partner of Kindness. We will miss so much personal and physical comfort the Holiday season usually provides. Let’s enter 2021 with Patience and Kindness.

Pride Through Service

     The animal lion pride is defined by having multiple members, bonded not just by kinship but also through working together for common goals, protecting each other, sharing food, and relaxing together: vocalizing, touching, affirming fellowship. Human Lions are not so different – although the size of our membership, social mores, and now Covid-19 much reduce our capacity to physically touch.

     Our goals are not killing to eat, but taking on challenges within our human communities. We earn human pride (respect) through how we serve each other and our communities. So - what was the September challenge?

     Monday September 7, with fires already burning in parts of the state, high dry east winds took down trees and power lines sparking more fires. PGE cut power on Mt Hood on the 7th to limit fires. By the next day, thousands more had lost power. That afternoon from SW Clackamas county, the sky south of the Willamette became a surrealistic high blue, with brilliant red below and competing walls of deep charcoal painted by burned Santiam towns.  By Wednesday night in District O, the Fireside fire, along the Clackamas River, was burning nearly 200 square miles; the whole county (pop. 420,000) was under some level of evacuation orders; the Chehalem Mountain and Echo Mountain fires required hundreds more to evacuate. And, a smoke blanket lay over us. Compared to District R, we were very lucky.

     French Prairie Lions, all Estacada Lions and some Gresham Breakfast members from Estacada and Sandy had to evacuate. Gresham Breakfast members, Wilsonville and Oregon City Lions took in fire evacuees; Mt Hood Lions with generators and/or propane took in community members without power, providing meals and showers in their own homes. They also made fuel runs for people who had generators, brought items from the Les Schwab aid station to distribute to the community at the Mt Hood Club House parking lot, persuaded Amerigas to make a special propane refueling trip to the area, patrolled neighborhoods and provided ham radio connections. Estacada Lions directly put boots to the ground to fight fires threatening homes. Oregon City Lions did the same in the Molalla/Colton area.

     Every county in Districts O and R opened their fairgrounds to evacuees; authorities opened parking lots at schools such as Mountainside High in Beaverton and Clackamas Community College, and commercial centers. Red Cross and other OrVOAD members managed multiple sites.

     Milwaukee Lions supplied breakfast at the Elks parking lot (about 100 vehicles). Several Lions Clubs with meal delivery trailers tried to plan food service for informal evacuation centers, but with people and needs shifting daily, coordination was difficult. Milwaukee and other clubs also assisted with donation management. McMinnville Lions provided medical supplies and 46 cases of adult diapers to United Way Mid-Willamette Valley resource center, plus 20 beds to a McMinnville care home taking evacuees from Molalla (who otherwise had only air-mattresses.)  McMinnville’s ongoing medical devices program provided existing relationships (which also addressed Covid-19 needs) as well as the goods for this response.

     One function local Lions Clubs could offer was to check the evacuation sites, verifying if they were open, if there were unmet needs or if donations were covering needs as was the case through much of District O. Some of that happened, but not all Lions recognized the importance of being eyes on the ground.

     Thanks to the many who served and those who provided information. If you felt we should have done more – I agree. Hopefully, we’ll help more in the next months. Nonetheless this experience provides a template for more coordinated future response. Build the Pride.

Lions District 36-O Strategic Plan (2020 – 2023)

     Some of you have wondered if our Districts and Multiple District actually have overall goals and plans for accomplishing those. Well yes. Yes we do.

     Every governor-elect must send LCI a District Plan – building on their predecessors and looking ahead.

     “Mine” began: This Plan seeks to improve District O coordination of leadership, membership and service and thereby help clubs better know and serve their communities, understand LCI and LCIF resources for that service, retain members during COVID-19 restrictions and economic stress, and build for recovery.

     We seek programs with direct community service and that produce larger program possibilities through inter-club, district and MD level cooperation.

     We will use the COVID related contraction to focus on building online and hybrid meeting and training skills, and renew club-community assessments of their assets, service needs and key program interests. We will try to show each club how the LCI and LCIF resources, inter-district and multiple district cooperation can strengthen their service and reputation in their communities and across Oregon.

     We seek to build our Lion Pride through service.

     As I’ve said previously, justifiable pride is earned through what one accomplishes working with and for other people. From the clubs I’ve met with so far – that fellowship and direct service is what draws people to Lions and keeps them there.

Consistent with that, we have 6 fundamental Goal areas:

• No. 1 –Service - to communities at local through district levels

• No. 2 - Membership Growth – despite COVID

• No. 3 - Leadership Development ensuring training for officer positions & service

• No. 4 - Club Administration – efficient, transparent & respecting member time

• No. 5 – Diversity –welcoming people of different cultures and capacities

• No. 6 - Public Relations - increasing Lions’ visibility in local communities and throughout the State

The service area of the month is of course fire response. So, the fire next time.

“A Pride” Is A Group Of Lions Who Work Together For Common Goals

In the last issue, I offered a “Pride through Service” theme. Pride: the human emotion of satisfaction in positive accomplishment. I don’t include in that type of “pride” that a person receives as a gift much like an “ear” for music, or hand-eye coordination facilitating athletic and/or artistic abilities, that are “God given” (wonderful) gifts. But for me, pride should be in how you make the effort to learn to use those abilities, work with other people and serve your community.

A second definition of “a pride” is a group of lions who work together for common goals. We need to build the numbers in that pride. That, too, is built by fellowship and active service together. The Lion pride, -through service- also knits together our local human communities. We are challenged this year by not assembling together as before, nor sharing food, goodwill and community activities.

So, we are forced to become more adept with internet communication and use of online learning and resources. We will also expand ways to direct services.

Example 1: District O and G Lions have participated in online multi-agency trainings and follow-up telephone contacts with survivors of February floods in Umatilla and Walla Walla watersheds - which increased survivor connections to FEMA and other assistance. We continue on this recovery project, as Oregon Lions are part of OrVOAD (Oregon Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.)

Examples 2-3: District O Lions Clubs have directly provided handmade facemasks to frontline service providers (including Tri-Met drivers) and delivering food to the homebound.

We must NOT succumb to the feeling that “we can’t do anything” until COVID 19 is gone; NOR, force physical presence on people who need to closely guard their health.

During this time, we will re-assess the assets of each club the motivation of their members, the needs of their communities, and how district and MD wide Lions, connect with other non-profits working on the same service areas, LCI and LCIF resources can build our capacities.

We will have less in-person training, but expand member facility with online training and meetings. We will re-think how to compensate for weak communication links.

The COVID “shelter-in place” restrictions this spring demonstrated how important it is for all Lions and their communities to prepare for interruptions in physical supplies. MD disaster response Chair Charlene Larsen and I laughed about feeling in the March COVID shutdown “this is like a storm shutdown – BUT we have electricity and telephones!” Also: heat, running water, flushing toilets, working laptops! “This is easy.” – until someone gets sick or dies.

I hope none of your Lions and/or loved ones have been lost to this virus.

Please let me know how it’s hitting your family or club. Take care all.

Pride Through Service

July/August 2020

We have a lot to do this year. The COVID-19 health threat, distancing restrictions and economic stress caused loss of meetings and service activities. We are now challenged to build club and district online meeting and training capacities and re-envision how service activities occur. 

District 36-O Lions (thank you PDG Terry Bowman and Lulu) were already seeking new ways to create a membership more diversified in age, gender, race and cultural heritage, but now our nation is witnessing a very deep need for re-addressing what unites or divides people particularly on gender, race and social justice issues.  So, our leadership and members need to revisit their understanding of current words in the news, facilitate non-partisan discussions of diversity constructs and connect with subgroups in our communities.  We’ll work top down and bottom up on this and need everyone’s help.

In animal Lion (Panthera leo) terms, building membership is building the size of the pride.

Reflect for a moment on the difference between Lions (Panthera leo) and all other cats: like wolves and African painted dogs, they hunt in groups (in Lions called prides). The reason is, the size of the game.

[Metaphor warning.] If you’re hunting rabbits, you can do it alone. Lions clubs, can do community specific projects quite well “alone.”  However, if you want to do something big, like make it possible for every school child in Oregon to be screened for sight and hearing or be prepared to respond to county or district wide disasters, you need to coordinate on a wider level.

We can do that through our LCI and LCIF structure. The “game” or target for non-profits is addressing human needs (local or global). We identify and fill gaps.  Lions core motto is “We Serve”.  This year we will focus on how to do that better by better knowing our member and community needs, by helping them know what the district and LCI /LCIF programs offer and by strengthening those programs.

Expanding the reach and credibility of our programs builds that other kind of pride: the deep satisfaction a person feels knowing they have met another human’s need: enabled them to eat, see, learn or connect with other community members.  We should feel the pride of earned self-respect and accomplishment in our service.  Through joint service, we can find and build fellowship, clubs and strong communities.

Pride in Service. Service by the Pride. Pride through Service.

More than punny.

Sheri Young