I’ve always been proud to be a member of the world’s largest service organization, 1.4 million strong in 46,000 clubs worldwide in over 200 countries. I bet that you too are proud to be a Lion. But let’s not stop with 1.4 million members. Today I would like to introduce you to Mission 1.5.

Mission 1.5 is a drive to build our membership to 1.5 million members worldwide in four years. The next four years will be dedicated to reaching this historic goal. But don’t we already have enough members if we’re the world’s largest service organization, you might ask. And the answer to that question is that if we want to be able to serve an untold number of people in need, we need more members. Simply put, more members means more service. New members help make our clubs vibrant as they bring their new ideas, enthusiasm and their desire to serve.

International President Patti Hill’s theme is “changing the world”. In order to do this, Hill states that, “As humanitaritans we can change lives but we we have to do it together through service. The more we grow, the more we can give to our communities.”

So what can we do individually? The challenge is out to us all of us as Lions. During the next four years, Ask 1. Uno, un, en, eins, ett, ichim jeden, moja, odin, wahed andyksi. Throughout the world Lions will be asking 1. Will everyone join that is asked? Of course not. But a significant number will. So let’s support this initiative and make the commitment to ask someone who is likeminded and service oriented to join our great organization sometime in the next four years.

As you read this you may be wondering, where did she get those logos? I want to make sure that everyone is aware of a resource that it available to us all. By going to the Lions International website we can download logos for our informational publications, advertising and articles in order to bring awareness of our service to our communities. You’ll find not only our Lions logo but our Global Causes logos, Mission 1.5 logos, Peace Poster logo and many others. Go to: Lionsclubs.org Resources Marketing resources Logos and Brand.

I’m so excited. For the first time in several years we are going to have a statewide service project. Lions International has dedicated the month of October as Vision Awareness Month is support of one of Lions Global Causes. Our MD36 Global Service Team has organized a great statewide service project. October 14th is “Lions Recycle for Sight Eyeglasses Collection Day”. I’ll be out collecting glasses at the Trading Post at Crooked River Ranch. I hope your club will join me in participating in this project. For more information see the article on Page 6. Thanks to Global Service Team Chair PCC Sharon Rollins and all the District GST’s for organizing the project. Just a little spoiler, there will be more than one statewide service project this year so stay tuned!

All the best Oregon Lions as we head into the fall and the holiday season!

What is Mission 1.5?