Credit Where Credit is Due

Frank spent Saturday raking leaves in the little park across the street, them carted the leaves to a spot on a vacant neighborhood lot so they’d be dry for the neighborhood Halloween bonfire. No one told him to, no one clapped him on the back and told him it was ‘a good job’.  But in the next Lions Meeting, someone said it wasn’t service because it wasn’t a LIONS Project. …was it?  Let’s be really sure about this, if you’re doing something for someone else, just because you can….IT IS SERVICE.  Report those ‘kindness hours’, report the time going to choir practice, or time at the ball field where you were called out of stands to umpire.  This is service.  REPORT it in your club meetings.

NOW, the second step, REPORT the service hours in the LION’S PORTAL.  Those hours are important, they’re currency for LCIF when they represent us, telling what Lion’s do in our communities …  showing how WE SERVE.  LCI can capitalize those hours as they look for those really big grants that we read about.  Make your service hours count every way they can.  Even your club meetings and that boring committee session you attended count, driving to and from any meeting or project counts as service hours.  We’re good at SERVICE we just don’t do a good job of reporting.   SO, BE PROUD, GIVE YOURSELVES CREDIT.

Don’t hide what your club’s doing…do you have a face book page? Highlight some service, you don’t have to use names, but get your activities out there, brag about yourselves, publicity will help attract new members.  New members mean more service, new ideas, more fun and camaraderie in everything you do.  Some clubs use small flags or banners that they put up when they are doing service in an area, that’s good visibility.

In short, BE VISIBLE, BE SERVICE MINDED, BE WELCOMING…then you’ll have new members, new ideas, and new RIPPLES.  First and Foremost, WE are LIONS, WE SERVE. 

This month and always, BE THANKFUL.

Barbara S. Dehlinger, Dist. Gov. MD36-E