District 1A Governor's Newsletter. Lions & Leo's Monthly e-Magazine for the Month of August 2023.

District Governor News NOVEMBER 2023

By Tom Elsey

Introduction

I participated in the Lion’s Memorial Service for Lion Miguel Mariduena of the Chicago Ecuadorean. Lions Club. Lion Miguel was an active lion, joining the club in July of 1990. The district was well represented by Lions from the northwest area of our district.

Candy Day occurred on October 13 & 14th for most clubs that participated braved the wet weather and I thank them for their dedication for raising funds for Lions of Illinois Foundation and their clubs. My club chose to delay getting on the streets until the following weekend. . If you club has not participated recently in Candy Day, I would love to see some new clubs consider participating next year. Even if you are no longer able to work the corners or raise funds in front of local businesses, consider raising funds virtually or raising money with another type of fund raiser. Thanks for all we do as Lions!

It was a pleasure to attend the Governor’s night, Installation of Club Officers, and Induction of New Members during October. It is an honor to celebrate 1 District 1A Monthly e-Newsletter

with the great clubs in our district. If you club would like to schedule a governor’s visit, please contact me to see if I have a specific date available on my schedule. If I do not have a date available, we can also offer the 1st or 2nd Vice District Governors as another choice.

Barb and I enjoyed attending the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Chicago Arirang Lions Club. It was great to install their new officers and see six new members inducted into their club. Their dedication of service by holding their annual picnic celebrating the adoptees and their families is inspiring. It is always fun seeing program books from anniversary celebrations showcasing the history of their club. Congratulations!

I would like to give a friendly reminder to all clubs to remember to pay their dues to Lions International, the District and State Dues, we are fast approaching financial suspension from Lions International, so make sure all your dues are paid! and to report all the great service projects that your clubs are doing in your communities. If you have already done this, I thank you. Please reach out if you have not received a dues statement or if you do not know how to report service projects.

Travels of the Governor October 2023 12 – Northwest Areas 1 & 3 – Region Meeting 15 – Thornton Pancake Breakfast 19 – Just Ask Membership Training – ZC Richard Castillo, Moderator 20 – Chicago Nurses for Diabetes Governor Night 20-21 – Candy Day 21 – Chicago Global Governors Night 22 – Chicago Lighthouse 2nd Annual Rise to Shine Run & Walk 26 – Southwest Area - Region 5 Meeting 2 District 1A Monthly e-Newsletter

27-28 – District 1-CN Convention (Governor Mark Bryant) 28 - Chicago Arirang - 50th Charter Anniversary October 29 – Chicago Logan Square Murder Mystery Dinner 29 – John Chisum - 85th Birthday November 2023 3 - Willow Springs Lions Club – Las Vegas Night 3 – 4 – District 1-M Convention (Governor Amy Hill) 4 – Fil-USA – 19th Anniversary and Presentation of Officers 11 – 2nd Cabinet Meeting 15 – Willow Springs Lions Governor’s Night 17 – Chicago Mabuhay Lions Club Governor’s Night 20 – Northwest Area – 2 Region Meeting 21 – Southeast Area 6 – Region Meeting 23 – Thanksgiving Day

District Goals It is always good to be able to review goals and programs for the coming year, so I am including some of the information I shared with you in prior articles this year! As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Mission 1.5 Mission 1.5 is the drive to reach 1.5 million members world-wide, so we can better meet the growing needs of our communities and serve more people than ever before. We have committed the next four years to reaching this historic Lions Clubs membership goal.

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Patti Hill’s Theme/Program President Hill’s programs and initiatives will focus on four key priorities for Lions International that are critical to our mission of service.

1. Creating a greener, cleaner environment 2. Sharing our stories with the world 3. Reaching our full potential as Lions and leaders 4. Supporting our global foundation, LCIF Changing the World Changing the world is a journey. There is no middle and no end. There is only a beginning—and it starts with us. It happens through the many small choices and acts of kindness we make every day. Together, the sum of our efforts makes the world a better place, one life, one relationship and one community at a time.

President Hill’s programs and initiatives will focus on four key priorities for Lions International that are critical to our mission of service.

1 - Create a greener, cleaner environment Protecting and improving our environment is a fantastic way to engage with our communities. By helping to protect and restore our natural resources, we can change the world. Let’s act boldly and let us act now.

2 - Share your story with the world Developing great marketing skills can help you tell the world who you are and what you do. Social media and local media, and online and offline marketing give you new ways to tell your stories. Shine a light on your club and invite your community to be a part of the change as Lions and Leos.

3 - Reach your service potential People want to be a part of something that matters. So set service goals that 4 District 1A Monthly e-Newsletter

push your capacity and create opportunities for even more impact with new members. Find ways to ensure your club is inclusive and welcoming to all.

4 - Empower even greater good Our foundation empowers us to do so much more than we can do alone.

LCIF enables us to think big and undertake projects that can truly change the world. So, support LCIF, and let LCIF support you.

BE THE CHANGE…….Believe in Yourself To change the world, we first must believe change is possible.

Here are some key steps that can help you face the challenges ahead.

Be brave.

In the causes you tackle and in the work that you do, don’t shy away from something that may seem too difficult. You’re up to the task and other Lions are here to support you. So, take that bold first step.

Invest in the future.

We all have a reason to invest in the future, and young people may be uniquely positioned to help us create change. We are better able to deal with the issues facing our communities when they are at the table with us.

Let’s invite the next generation of global leaders to serve with us as Lions.

Collaborate.

We do our best work as a team. Work with community leaders, other service organizations, and each other to address the biggest problems facing your communities. Collaboration makes change happen faster.

Lead the way.

Lions and Leos lead by example. We show the world what is possible when people care about their communities and when kindness is the goal. Lead the way, and others will join you.

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District Goals Recognition Program As part of the Build A Vision Session in February, 1 important request of the participants was the need to consider implementing a recognition program within our district. As of now, I am appointing a committee to begin the process of how that can happen. It will include what types of achievements to consider for these awards, This will include such areas as individual and club, membership, service and leadership, and monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc. This is in addition of the Club Excellence Award (19 awarded in 20212022, Gail Anton’s year) and hopefully more in (2022-2023, Tony Zartler year). It is a great program, and we need to continue encouraging program involvement by our clubs. If your club would like to consider trying to get the Club Excellence Award, please reach out to your Zone Chairperson.

Membership As I am writing this newsletter article, our District is +77 through September 30. For the month of September 2023, District 1-A added 45 new members and dropped 13 members for a net increase in our membership of 32.

We had three clubs added a net increase of new members in September 2023. Chicago Filipino American added 15 members, Chicago Healthcare Alliance added 14 new members Chicago Nurses for Diabetes added a 10 new members, Chicago Healthcare Alliance added 11 new members, River Grove added 4 new members, Calumet City and Chicago Mabuhay Centennial added 1 new member each.

Congratulation to those clubs!!!

Let’s see what District 1-A can accomplish for the coming year.

New Clubs Over the last five years, our district has averaged two new clubs per year and lost an average of one club A goal of three clubs is possible.

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GMA for Clubs Ready to move your club in a dynamic new direction using the Global Membership Approach? Then start planning for your success with the Global Membership Approach. This process can help you attract new members, overcome challenges, and develop new goals and strategies.

The process is built on four steps designed to not only to grow your club, but also to inspire new ideas, engage your members — and improve retention — and empower current and potential club leaders.

You can start by taking the Global Membership Approach Course as well as the SWOT Analysis Course available in Lions Learning Center.

More information is available from the GAT Team and your Zone Chairpersons!

Service This year’s goal is to increase the number of clubs reporting service in MyLion or the new software once available to 75% of our clubs. Two reasons this is so important to Lions. Reporting it on MyLion allows our International organization to create more accurate reports to share with our global partners that generously donate to LCIF funding and allow us to serve more people in need. When those partners don’t see everything, we do, it might limit the amount of money we can get.

The second part of reporting service is to make sure we share it on social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, web pages and sharing our service projects with others in our communities hopefully will inspire others to join in our service endeavors.

LCIF Our District has been generous to LCIF, and I am sure we will continue to do so. Now more than ever, the need for funding is necessary and will continue to increase.

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This year’s goal is to increase individual donations to LCIF by 25% and Club donations by 20%.

Barb and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope all will be able to take some time out and spend time with our families. We also know many dedicated lions will be helping those less fortunate around Thanksgiving with meal preparations, donations to food banks, delivering food baskets to others in our communities in need. However you chose to celebrate or help, thank you for the service you provide. We Serve!

Stay safe, I am looking forward to seeing everyone this year.

Yours in Service, Tom Elsey 1-A District Governor

MD-1 MID-YEAR FALL FORUM AND MELVIN JONES DINNER

Sadly, the decision has been made to cancel the Melvin Jones Dinner and MD-1 Fall Forum scheduled for Nov. 17 and 18, 2023, in East Peoria due to the low number of registrants.

If you registered for either of these events, refunds will be given.

Please note that you are responsible for cancelling your hotel reservation at the Embassy Suites Hotel & Conference Center! The phone number is (309) 694-0200.

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GMA /GMT Coordinator: PID Dan O’Reilly November 2023

Global Membership Approach

October marked 28 consecutive months of positive membership for our District. In October we added 45 members while only dropping 18. We had 21 Clubs add members, with 25 dropping members this year. The results are 15 clubs showing growth with 17 clubs showing losses.

One month down in our 2nd quarter our membership growth is still strong.

Lions. keep striving to add members to strengthen your clubs, enabling more hands to help serve those in need in your community. Replace your loss members with fresh energetic members who want to help your communities and continue to grow.

We welcome two new Leo Clubs to our District. Chicago Heights added the South Cook Leo Club and the Chicago Windy City added the Payton Leo Club. Please support these clubs when you can, they are the future.

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This month we had three Membership Champions that I would like to recognize, Lion Ann Teano from the Chicago Nurses for Diabetes Lions Club, Lion Lea Agaton from Chicago Healthcare Alliance Lions Club, and The Chicago Global Lions Clubs. These three Lions Clubs are excelling in their growth to move our District Membership growth.

We have 12 clubs representing 177 members at Risk of Financial Suspension. Clubs Leaders, check your statements to make sure your club’s financial obligations are current. Just log into your MYLCI account to see if your paid up to date…

Join me and accept the challenge of Mission 1.5

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MISSION 1.5

• A growing membership is vital to our clubs, our service, and our communities. Because the more we grow, the more we can give.

• That’s why we’re launching MISSION 1.5.

• MISSION 1.5 is our drive to reach 1.5 million members by 2027, so we can better meet the growing needs of our communities and serve more people than ever before.

• It will require the commitment of every Lion to reach our MISSION 1.5 goal.

• We need to grow our clubs. And start new ones.

• So, I ask you to invite a new member. And ask the Lions in your club to invite a new member.

• Help your club and district leaders implement their plans to grow.

• Our communities are depending on us, so we need to make a real commitment to growing our membership. MISSION Membership Development & Club Rebuilding: Join us as we celebrate the Chartering of our newest club to District 1-A; “The Chicago Healthcare Alliance Lions Club., November 19th! (Special Guest 3rd International Vice President Mark Lyon) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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GST Coordinator: Lion Maryanne O’Reilly November 2023

I’m grateful to all the clubs that are entering their service in MYLion. I would like to encourage all the clubs in District 1A to enter their activities as well.

Let’s keep our reporting numbers going up!

What activities should be entered in MYLion? MYLion entries should include Service Projects, Meetings, Fundraisers and Donations for your club, District and Multiple District activities. Making regular entries in MYLion ensures that you don’t miss an activity. Please remember to go back into completely report your activity so your club gets credit.

As I regularly watch the activities reported in MYLion, I am inspired by the wide variety of Service Projects and Signature Activities. I see some interesting activities taking place in the next couple months.

Please remember to send your event flyers with cabinet secretary Lion Brenda at lionbrendablock@gmail.com by Noon on Tuesdays. She will share your flyer on Wednesday with the district.

Celebrate your service. We take pride in the unique expressions of kindness found in each of our local clubs across the world. When we share our stories and report our impact, we unify our organization, inspire our communities, and capture the attention of a global audience.

Celebration elevates the experience and impact of service.

We invite your club to participate in our District1A Celebrate Service Challenge. Your club will receive one raffle ticket for each current celebration of Service activity reported on MYLion. At the conclusion of our Lion Year 2023 -2024, we will draw two clubs to each receive $50.

Don’t wait until the fourth Thursday in November, to sit with family and friends to give thanks.

Make everyday a day of thanksgiving.

“Celebrate Service” Lion Maryanne GAT - Service

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Please report your service regularly and help surpass the District Goal of 75% of the clubs reporting…

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LCIF COORDINATOR: District 1-A PID Dan O’Reilly

One of our Goals for our District is to increase participation of Individual giving by Lions. The club excellence award for clubs this year requires that a club donates at least $5.00 per member to the foundation. Not a great feat for most clubs. 20 members at $5.00 = $100.00. We have clubs giving far more than that each year. But you must start somewhere. Any individual donation by a Lion also counts as a club donation. Also new this year, Presidential LCIF Supporter Recognition.

At LCIF, to honor your commitment and support, we are thrilled to introduce the Presidential LCIF Supporter program. This initiative aims to recognize and celebrate individuals who have contributed with heart and soul, making a significant impact on our mission.

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By participating in the annual program, you earned based on the one-time donation amount you provide. Your generosity not only earns you welldeserved recognition but also helps us make a lasting difference in the lives of those in need.

There are multiple levels of recognition to honor donors based on their onetime donation amount that meets the eligibility criteria as noted in the levels of recognition. The levels are as follows: Bronze Pin - US$50 to US$99.99 Silver Pin - US$100 to US$199.99 Gold Pin - US$200 and above Leo-Presidential LCIF Supporter - Minimum donation of US$20

E become an integral part of our honored supporters. Melvin Jones Fellowship (MJF) credits will be mpower even Greater Good…

Magnifying Your Impact…

Our foundation empowers us to do so much more than we can do alone… LCIF enables us to think Big and undertake projects that Change the World…

So, support LCIF and let LCIF support you…

Use the QR code and donate today…

Know that LCIF allocates 100% of your donation to grants and program expenses, no administrative expenses…

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District 1-A Vision Coordinator: Lion Mike Smigielski November 2023 VSP Eyes of Hope Program Lions, This program can really benefit your Lions Club. Lions using this program can get free eye exam and glasses for the people in your communities. First, their income needs to be twice that of poverty level or less. Which is approximately $19,000 with an addon for other family members of 9,500.

They can not have other Vision insurance that provides for eye exams and eyeglasses. They can only use this program once a year.

Where to get Certificates?

I have certificates and they are easy to get from me. Because I have to record the use of the VSP Certificates, I need the Lions Club representative to contact me with the following information: Persons Name Date of Birth Address Telephone Number I will then send the VSP Certificate to the Lions Club for them to present to the family or person. I want the Lions Club presenting to get the credit.

There are many optometrists who accept this certificate. On the certificate is a phone number to call for an optomitrist close to the patient.

For more information, please call me, Lion Mike Smigielski at 708-307-6357 or email – lionmikesmig@aol.com 17 District 1A Monthly e-Newsletter

New Members in ARGO SUMMIT Lions Club: 4 TERRY LYNN LAUCIS GYLMAR PONCE THERESE MINES-ANDERSON KAREN J WASKO New Members in CHICAGO FIL USA Lions Club: 3 MARIA CIELO GARCERA MARIA MERCEDES M. JOHNSON PURA P. VOSS New Members in CHICAGO GLOBAL Lions Club: 6 SILVESTRE SEDORIOSA CABUNGCAL, JR DENNIS A JOSE CECILIA RAMIREZ YOLANDA CONSTANTINO SAMPAN MAYLA SAN JOSE ANALIN SYPONGCO New Members in CHICAGO HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE Lions Club: 11 MARIA ELINOR ALCANTARA-DALY HAZEL H ALMORES PREMPER BATAMULIZA MICHAEL B FERNANDEZ STEPHANIE MENDOZA KRIZIA C PALLARCA MARISSA C SALVALEON NICOLE P SUAREZ 18 District 1A Monthly e-Newsletter

LILIANA TRESPALACIOS KERMITH UBERAS ERIC ERNEST PIRANTE New Members in CHICAGO INDO US Lions Club: 1 SUNNY H TRIVEDI New Members in CHICAGO NURSES FOR DIABETES Lions Club: 13 RONALD AMOIN REY BERNARDO ROSATITA CAMARO JOANNA CHOWANEC TRACY CICIC SARAH DELATORRE JOHN PAUN ENCARNACION ANNALYN GARIN CHRISTINE GIN SYED NAQUI MARIA AIKO PETERSEN MIA ROSAL AMELIE VELA New Members in WILLOW SPRINGS Lions Club: 1 STEVEN M HICKEY New Members in WORTH Lions Club: 2 GARRETT E GLYNN BILL POTOKAR Total New Members in the Month of Octyober:- 41

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--------------------------------------Chicago Filipino American Lions Club’s Governor’s Night.

The President of the Chicago Filipino American Lions Club, Lion Janet Reyes Macaranas has envisioned a project on Hunger, that is; one Sunday each month which started last July, 2023, CFALC is giving free breakfast to one barrio, in the Bicol Region of the Philippines..

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The Presidential Table; Region and Zone Chair; Ben and Yoly Zoleta; 21 District 1A Monthly e-Newsletter

CFALC President and Secretary; Janet and Enrico Macaranas; District Governor and wife, Lions Tom and Barbara Elsey; District 3rd Governor and wife; Lions Richard (not in picture) and Edith Moy, Some CFALC officers with District Governor and District 3rd Governor; Lions Tom Elsey and Richard Moy..

District

Governor

Tom

Elsey

delivering message..

his

inspirational

Group picture of CFALC members..

The officers of CFALC..

The 16 new members of CFALC with their sponsors..

CFALC President and Secretary, Lions Janet and Enrico Macaranas..

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Family and fellow Westchester Lions greeted Lion Mike on his return from Honor Flight Chicago #112. What a thrill seeing and welcoming home all of the Veterans.

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Chicago Indo-US Lions club members along with community volunteers held an environmental day and they cleaned the surroundings near Leyden High.

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District

1A

Convention

Committee Meeting held at Home Run Pizza Restaurant in October.

First Picture: Lourdes Mon Co-chair, Dr. Austin Dsouza Chair and PID Dan O’Reilly, Gov Tom Elsey, II VDG Rich Moy, Advisors.

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Chicago Nurses for Diabetes Lions celebrated their second Charter Nite With Governor Tom Elsey and inducted 36 new members at the Drake Hotel, Oak Brook.

Chicago Global Lions Gov. Nite 2023

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--------------------------------------PDG John Chisum’s 85th Birthday!

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When the crowd started singing happy birthday, PDG John Chisum started dancing like a 14 year old in the midst of fire crackers and smoke.

Several

lions

from

District

1A

attended this event.

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DISTRICT 1A CONVENTION MARCH 22nd

TO MARCH 24, 2024 MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE FORTHCOMING GOVERNOR’S NEWSLETTERS -Lion Dr. Austin Dsouza, Convention Chair -Lion Lourdes Mon, Co Chair 42 Governor’s News

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SAVE THE DATE Raising the Stakes for Vision: Poker & Casino Night Thursday, February 29, 2024 Gibsons Steakhouse/Hugo’s Frog Bar 1024 North Rush Street | Chicago Doors open at 5:30 pm Cards Fly at 7:00 pm Registration information will be sent in fall 2023.

FOR QUESTIONS CONTACT: Karoline Kijowski karoline.kijowski@chicagolighthouse.org | (312) 447-3447 Karoline Kijowski Senior Manager, Special Events | Advancement Phone: 312.447.3447

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