Globally, Lions clubs are known for
their commitment to blindness prevention.
Lions clubs serve people throughout the world. Lions have established
the majority of eye banks worldwide, funded groundbreaking research on
leading causes of blindness, organized eyeglass recycling efforts and
helped hundreds of thousands of visually impaired people develop the
skills to live productive lives.
Lions Clubs were founded in Chicago, in 1917, by businessman Melvin
Jones. Since its inception, Lions Clubs International has been dedicated
to helping those less fortunate in their communities and around the
world. In 1925, Helen Keller challenged the members to be "knights of
the blind." "We Serve" became the association's official motto in 1954.
Today, Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club
association with 1.4 million men and women members in more than 44,000
clubs located in 186 countries and geographical areas. There are 446,000
US Lions in over 13,000 clubs.
Lions' activities are far reaching including
such areas as:
- Sight conservation and work with the visually
impaired including Leader Dogs for the Blind.
- Hearing conservation and work with the hearing
impaired.
- Citizenship, educational, health, and social
services.
- Youth programs including drug education and
prevention, community outreach, and volunteer programs.
- Diabetes detection and research.
- Work for international cooperation and
understanding including international youth camps and youth exchange
programs.
- Grants to Habitat for Humanity.
Through the
Lions Clubs International
Foundation (LCIF) grants of millions of dollars each year go to
provide worldwide humanitarian assistance. LCIF has funded 82 eye
clinics and hospitals, provided more than 2.5 million cataract
surgeries, trained 3000 ophthalmic personnel, and treated 8 million
persons annually.
Lions Clubs came to South Carolina in 1922, first to Columbia,
Orangeburg, Spartanburg, Greenville, and Anderson. Today there are over
125 clubs in the state with over 5000 members.
The South Carolina state Lions organization supports local clubs and
provides statewide services to South Carolina citizens. It has several
elements: The South Carolina Lions Eye Bank, Inc., South Carolina Lions,
Inc., and South Carolina Lions Foundation, Inc. The South Carolina Lions
Eye Bank is charged with procuring, processing, and distributing safe,
viable eye tissue for transplant, research, and education. South
Carolina Lions, Inc. helps pay for eye surgery beyond the capacity of
local clubs, operates the Mobile Health Screening Unit which provides
vision testing, glaucoma screening, hearing testing and blood pressure
checks free of charge, and helps support two camps for blind children (Camp
Lions Den at Clemson and
Camp Leo at Hilton Head). The
South Carolina
Lions Eye Research Fund at the Medical University of South
Carolina's Storm Eye Institute supports extensive eye research.
South Carolina Lions have served a significant role in the development
and growth of the Storm Eye Institute which has become a preeminent eye
research and care facility in the world.
