Volunteers Viewpoint

"If you want my loyalty, interest and best efforts, remember that:

"I need a sense of belonging, a feeling that I am honestly needed for my total self, not just for my hands, nor because I take orders well.

"I need to have a sense of sharing in planning our objectives. My need will be satisfied only when I feel that my ideas have had a fair hearing.

"I need to feel that the goals and objectives arrived at are within reach and that they make sense to me.

"I need to feel that what I'm doing has real purpose or contributes to human welfare--that its value extends even beyond my personal gain, or ours.

"I need to share in making the rules by which, together, we shall live and work toward our goals.

'I need to know in some clear detail just what is expected of me--not only my detailed task, but where I have opportunity to make personal and final decisions.

'I need to have some responsibilities that challenge, that are within range of my abilities and interests, and that contribute toward reaching my assigned goal, and that cover all goals.

I need to see that progress is being made toward the goals we have set.

"I need to be kept informed. What I'm not up on, I may be down on. Keeping me informed is one way to give me status as an individual.

"I need to have confidence in my superiors--confidence based upon assurance of consistent fair treatment, or recognition when it is due, and trust that loyalty will bring increased security."

--by J. Donald Philips,
President of Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan

Voice of the Pin 

Don't overlook me, Lions. I'm the Lions pin.

Right up in front here. Put the spotlight on me because I'm proud to play a part in the lives of the men who wear me as their symbol of service to the community.

I've witnessed excitement, sadness and happiness. I've been with my wearer as eyes of deceased Lions were removed for deposit in the Eye Bank. I was there, too when I watched as the hungry were fed, the destitute cared for.

I've seen the Leader Dogs instill in a blind person a new kind of confidence as they move about their sightless world.

I've heard the hearts of the retarded pounding with joy when Lions visited them. I've seen and heard the laughter of children in playgrounds, enjoying recreational facilities and leadership provided by Lions.

Yes, I've traveled all over the world and can recall thousands of incidents diverted from sadness to gladness because those who wear me made it so.

I am a symbol of service to the world.
If I could really talk, Id be too filled with emotional pride to say more than: "Thank you, and may God bless you and protect you."

My Membership Card 

In my wallet, I carry a little scrap of paper. It is of no intrinsic value; not a bond, not a check or receipt for values. Yet, it may be my most priceless possession. It is my membership card, my proof that I am a member in good standing in a Lions Club. It is more than can be put into words. It tells me and my fellow man that I have entered into a special kinship with my fellow Lions--to practice charity in word and deed, to forgive and forget any faults of my fellow Lions, to care for the blind, the deaf, the crippled, the sick and the hungry and to be fair and just to whomever I meet.

It tells me that I am welcome among Lions wherever I travel in the world and that I am among brothers and friends. It will tell you that when you make your final exit from the stage of life, there will be gathered about you those who will recall your virtues, though they be few, and forgive and forget your faults, though they be many. So as we gather to eat and talk, remember the good and overlook any differences. He is a good man or he would never have become a Lion.

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