A New Challenge

Greeting Lions of District 36R,

     We started our year off right when all four District Governors and our Council Chair for 2022-2023 were able to attend the International Convention in Montreal, Canada.  It was a busy week for all, and the four incoming DGs got to know each other better as we finished up our DGE Seminar.  We also met most of our DGE Seminar classmates in our final two days of training.  We got to experience our new International President’s, enthusiasm, and energy firsthand – and boy does he have both in spades.  I am looking forward to dedicating myself to his theme, “Together We Can” and beginning our District’s Global Membership Approach (GMA) journey.

     At the District level we have been focused on getting our club leaders trained and at the time of this writing we have accomplished getting 33% (goal of 60%) of them trained.  Entering our third and final phase for training this year, the self-training, I feel that our goal is within reach.  We have also been working at the MD36 level to secure a PR Grant for $15k from LCIF, that all four districts are participating in, and will be focused on yard-signs, car magnet stickers, and coffee cup sleeves.  This will allow us to advertise Lions in our communities with the intention of gaining new members and awareness of our great organization.

     PDG Steve Moser, our LCIF Coordinator, is also back this year and has a new challenge for us to collect 250,000 nickels starting in August and going through October. We can bring 15% of those funds back to our District to fund local projects in our District.  Last year’s million pennies raised ~$5,000 dollars and with other “Empowering Service” donations we will have ~$1,500 and per Lion PDG Lynn’s wishes this money will be donated to Heartfelt House in Eugene.  This year we will be polling our members to see where we will donate the money for next year.

     I have visited two clubs to date and am working on getting my other visits set up with the goal of accomplishing most of the visits by early October.  So far, I have enjoyed meeting our fellow Lions and am impressed with the service that our clubs do as well as the variety based on their community’s needs.  I look forward to visiting each of our clubs, meeting fellow Lions, experiencing the incredible fellowship, and learning how I can serve our District this year.

DG 36R Lion David O’Kelley – Together We Serve