Speech on LCIF (short version)

Our founder Melvin Jones once said, "You can't get very far until you start doing something for someone else." Lions have gotten fairly far because our precise mission is to help others.

One of the most important ways that Lions make a difference in the world is through Lions Clubs International Foundation or LCIF. LCIF is the charitable organization of the Lions Clubs International. LCIF helps Lions help others both in their own community and in the world community.

LCIF partners with Lions clubs and districts worldwide in carrying out humanitarian projects, ranging from preventing river blindness in Nigeria and remedying cataract in China to renovating camps for the disabled in the United States and meeting basic needs of victims of earthquakes and floods around the world.

LCIF's main focus is blindness prevention. Often partnering with other organizations, LCIF and its SightFirst program has made remarkable progress in the fight against blindness:

• Lions have restored sight to 7.3 million people through cataract surgeries.
  
• We’ve prevented serious vision loss for 20 million people.
  
• We’ve built or expanded 300 eye hospitals/clinics/wards, upgraded 337 eye centers with equipment and provided management training for 115 facilities.

We’ve now embarked on Campaign SightFirst II because the donations from Lions for the original Campaign SightFirst are nearly depleted and blindness will double by 2020 unless action is taken now. The US$150 million Campaign SightFirst II will allow Lions to continue and expand the amazing work of SightFirst.

Most of SightFirst’s work is done in developing nations where the threat of vision loss is much higher and eye healthcare is sorely lacking. But SightFirst also battles blindness in developed nations. The Lions Eye Health Program (LEHP), a SightFirst-funded initiative, is preventing blindness and vision loss in the United States and several other developed nations. LEHP is a community-based public awareness initiative that encourages the early detection and timely treatment of glaucoma and diabetic eye disease and the appropriate treatment for low vision.

Besides blindness prevention, LCIF also supports a wide variety of projects, including providing disaster relief, combating disability, promoting health and serving youth. LCIF helps develop children's hospices, care centers for the elderly, camps for special needs children and vocational programs for people with disabilities.

One of LCIF's particularly successful initiatives involves the disabled. Opening Eyes is LCIF’s partnership with Special Olympics. Athletes at select Special Olympics games receive free eye exams, and, if needed, free glasses and sports goggles on the spot. To date, more than 100,000 athletes have been screened through the partnership. They also are checked for glaucoma and other eye diseases. The screenings have resulted in better vision in a chronically underserved population and have prevented blindness through early detection of disease.

Through LCIF, Lions also have been generous in responding to natural disasters. LCIF mobilized US$5.1 million for Hurricane Katrina relief for the Gulf Coast in the United States. LCIF is providing funds for Lions of Mississippi and Louisiana to continue important service projects. Due to the hurricane, Lions otherwise would not be able to continue such projects as sight screening, an eye bank and eye care services for the poor. LCIF facilitated twinning between clubs in the Gulf Coast and clubs elsewhere, the distribution of UNICEF’s "school-in-box" and a mobile eye van.

After the tsunami devastated South Asia, LCIF mobilized nearly US$15 million from Lions for relief and reconstruction. Supported by LCIF, Lions are making great progress in helping victims of the tsunami. Hundreds of home have been built or are being built in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.

The majority of LCIF’s grants go to Lions to improve their own communities. Altogether, in fiscal year 2007, LCIF made 587 grants totaling US$33.7 million.

Lions and LCIF are making a difference in millions of lives.

Someone once said, "If you can't see the invisible, then you can't accomplish the impossible." Easing the suffering people endure worldwide may seem impossible. But Lions see a world where blindness is prevented, those with disabilities live in decent housing and calamities bring out the best in people. They see it and they do it.

Speech on LCIF (long version)

LCIF accepts donations from Lions worldwide and awards grants to Lions worldwide for humanitarian projects. LCIF prevents blindness, assists youths and those with disabilities, provides disaster relief and does many other kinds of humanitarian service.

LCIF receives no part of club dues. Instead, it relies on generosity of Lions.

The 2007 fiscal year was a very successful year for LCIF. LCIF awarded US$33.7 million in grants for 587 projects.

LCIF's main focus is blindness prevention. Since 1925, when Helen Keller challenged the Lions to be the "knights of the blind," Lions have trained dog guides for the visually impaired, managed camps for blind children and otherwise assisted the blind. LCIF upped the ante in 1991 when it began its SightFirst program. The goal of SightFirst is to reduce and eliminate blindness especially in developing countries, where the threat of blindness is the greatest.

This last fiscal year was also significant for what LCIF accomplished with its river blindness control efforts through SightFirst. Working with The Carter Center, headed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, a Lion, SightFirst has helped distribute in Africa and Latin America 114 million treatments of Mectizan, donated by Merck. Very few cases of river blindness are being reported in areas with widespread treatment coverage. In fact, in Latin America, experts foresee eradicating river blindness once and for all by 2010. That’s big news--this ancient, terrible blinding disease will be eliminated in all the nations of Latin America.

A major concern of LCIF has been the terrible tsunami disaster. LCIF mobilized US$15 million for rebuilding in South Asia. That included US$12 million donated by Lions to LCIF and US$3 million from LCIF funds. With these funds, Lions built over 3,400 homes as well as schools, community centers and developed economic revitalization projects in the four affected countries of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand.

Another current significant project for LCIF is Hurricane Katrina Relief. Katrina was the worst natural disaster in US history. LCIF mobilized US$5.1 million for Katrina relief. LCIF is providing funds for Lions of Mississippi and Louisiana to continue important service projects. Due to the hurricane, Lions otherwise would not be able to continue such projects as sight screening, an eye bank and eye care services for the poor. LCIF also facilitated twinning between clubs in the Gulf Coast and clubs elsewhere, the distribution of UNICEF’s "school-in-box" and a mobile eye van.

Let me now turn our attention to SightFirst and Campaign SightFirst II. SightFirst has directly impacted 24 million people. Lions have supported 7.3 million cataract surgeries and we’ve prevented serious vision impairment for 20 million. Plus, we’ve improved eye care services for hundreds of millions. Lions can take enormous pride in SightFirst.

LCIF has done all this at a remarkably low cost, It costs less than $1 to distribute a dosage of Mectizan. which prevents river blindness. Imagine that¾saving a person from life without sight for pennies. And for as little as $20, SightFirst performs a cataract surgery.

Lions and SightFirst have proven that preventing blindness is among the most successful and cost effective of all health interventions. Overall, SightFirst has managed to prevent blindness/restore sight for 24 million people at an astonishing cost of about US$6 per donation to Campaign SightFirst. We calculated that figure by taking into account that Campaign SightFirst raised US$143 million from Lions. And 24 million people have been directly impacted by SightFirst. Hence, it took on average a US$6 donation to restore sight or prevent blindness. I’m sure you will agree that is absolutely astounding.

But I must tell you that despite SightFirst’s great success, much work remains to be done. The rapid increase in life expectancy and growing threats to sight such as diabetes threaten millions with loss of vision. Unless action is taken now, the number of blind people could double to a staggering 75 million by 2020.

So what should Lions do? The funds for SightFirst are almost exhausted. Yet the desire to serve, to prevent blindness, remains quite high among Lions. We know that because we’ve done an extensive feasibility study measuring Lions’ willingness to continue SightFirst by raising additional funds.

Millions are threatened by blindness. But that won’t happen. We Lions won’t let it. We have embarked on Campaign SightFirst II to again give the gift of sight to millions. There are children who will go blind-but Lions won’t let it happen. There are mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers who will go blind-but Lions won’t let it happen. There are farmers, teachers and factory workers who will go blind-but Lions won’t let it happen.

SightFirst Campaign II kicked-off at the International Convention in Hong Kong and will culminate in 2007-2008. Past International President Dr. Tae-Sup Lee was chosen as the international chairperson for the campaign.

What is the goal of Campaign SightFirst II? The overall goal is to enable SightFirst to reduce blindness both in developing and developed countries. Its three specific goals are to eliminate blindness from cataract, trachoma and river blindness as a public health concern, to significantly reduce blindness from glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and childhood blindness, and to expand Lions’ leadership in research, rehabilitation and services regarding vision loss for the most poor and vulnerable in our communities.

The monetary goal of the campaign is to raise $150 million dollars. Our stretch goal is $200 million.

Help LCIF help Lions help others. We all want a better world. LCIF helps make that come true.