District 36-R Governor column – November 2024

     If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to KEEP MOVING FORWARD. 

-        Martin Luther King

     As I’m writing this column, Hurricane Milton is slamming into Florida.  This disaster grabs at the Service part of my heart and is the first step in my motto:  Forward!  Upward!  Onward! 

     I can’t even imagine suffering through this devastation on a personal level, much less watching my neighborhood disintegrate in front of my eyes, worrying about the welfare of friends and relatives. 

     I feel distressed, as I’m sure you all do, just seeing the photos and videos of all the damage and hearing about the injuries and fatalities.  But one of the things I hear about and see consistently in these pictures is people serving other people.  It may be a next-door neighbor or a first responder who has deployed from out of the area.  Again, SERVICE is the name of the game and will be for quite some time.

     LCIF recently put out information about what it has been doing in the hurricane areas. It has already issued millions of dollars in disaster and emergency grants throughout the disaster areas.  Please remember our fellow Lions (and non-Lions) back East and make generous donations to LCIF. 

     Several of you have asked about contacting individual clubs directly.  I have not seen any information about that but will forward it as I receive it.  If you have any questions about the relief efforts, please feel free to reach out to KaSondra Byrd (kasondra.byrd@lionsclubs.org) or Beth Smith (beth.smith@lionsclubs.org) directly.