Knights Kronicles 07/2023 – District 33K Lions

A Publication of District 33K Lions

DGs Message

Greetings Lions and LEOs of District 33K:

I hope that by now everyone has had the opportunity to rest and recover from our spectacular International Convention.

I am still going over emails and chats from fellow Lions I met during our 5 days in Boston. It was so good to get back together with my fellow District Governors for the last day of the District Governor’s Institute. Our journey started last Fall via Zoom.

Later on, we met for 3 days in person at the Q Center in Illinois for a very intense in-person training and the opportunity to meet our incoming International President and fellow Governors from other areas of the world.

Having the opportunity to meet IP Dr. Patti Hill was very special. She is an unbelievable human being. She is personable, humble, and full of energy and vision for the future of our association. Her vison is: “Changing the World… one life, one relationship, one community at a time.” She wants us to be agents of change by:

Creating a greener, cleaner environment
Sharing our story with the world
Reaching our full service potential
Supporting LCIF –This empowers us to do greater good.

I will share more of what each of these means in the weeks to come, but her message is clear; we need to change where change is needed in order to evolve.

During the international convention, MISSION 1.5 was unveiled. This initiative is our drive to reach 1.5 million members by 2027.

We need to step up our efforts to grow our clubs not only by inducting new members but by engaging our existing members so we can better fulfill the service needs of our growing communities.

I know this sounds very ambitious, but I am confident that our district will do its part to help make our communities and the world a better place.

We will be working together every step of the way along with the district teams to build a road to success!

My theme for this year is “Evolving Service into the Future thru Service,

Kindness and Diversity.” Little did I know when I came up with it, that it was going to blend so well with International President Dr. Patti Hill’s theme.

I would like to thank IPDG Steve and his team for their leadership and support, for being agents of change and for setting the building blocks for the next step of this journey of evolving our district into the future.

CST Debbie and I can’t wait to get started and go out to visit your clubs and share our ideas with you. Our entire leadership team 1VDG Diana, 2VDG Anthony, Region and Zone Chairs along with the GMA and the GAT are ready to get our district roaring into the future.

Yours in Lionism,

DG Ivette

Global Leadership Team (GLT)

Fellow Lions,

We’re excited to get this new Lions year underway! We’d like to first extend our congratulations to DG Ivette and extend our thanks to IPDG Steve for his leadership and guidance.

DG Ivette has indicated her goals for the Leadership team is to offer more “mini” trainings through this year, primarily via Zoom — we’re going to be working with GMT Chair Deb Wayne and GLT Chair Dawn Rice-Norton to come up with some brief power point presentations with explanations of our 8 service areas. This should be a fun task for us to participate in.

We’re excited about helping DG Ivette meet her goals and working with GMT Chair PDG Dr. Deb Wayne and GST Chair PDG Dawn Rice-Norton we’re certain we can achieve those goals.

Towards the goal of making sure we have trained all of our Club officers, we’ve scheduled two sessions – the first is on August 12 for Presidents/Secretary/Treasurer – the information will be sent to all Clubs today. The makeup session will be held on September 9. If we feel the need to add onto this we will do so. You can register today by following these links:

August 12 – Club Officers

September 9 – Club Officers Make Up Session

This year, your District Leadership team will include:

2nd VDG Anthony Baliola – Boston Host Lions
PRC Holly Dono – Sharon Lions Club
Lion Steven Levy – Marlboro Lions Club – Steven will take ownership of Orientation and involvement in other activities as appropriate.
PDG Paul Calnan – Norfolk Lions Club Paul will work with me to continue updating the District Officers Manual

We’re always interested in working with Lions from across the District so if you have any interest in becoming part of the team please do not hesitate to reach out to any one of our team members. Most of our meetings will take place via Zoom so as to not be a barrier to attending.

We’re always looking for people who are willing to provide training. If this is something that interests you please feel free to send me an email at doreenmartel@doreenmartel.com

We’re all looking forward to working with you to provide high quality training to your members. Please do not hesitate to reach out to any member of our team if you have any questions or would like us to schedule a training session for your Club, Zone, or Region.

Here’s to a great year! Doreen

33K Breaking LCIF Records and Helping the World

Greetings Special K,

It’s a new year and new goals for our LCIF Team IPIP Brian Sheehan has big plans for 2023-2024 and big goals to achieve those plans.

And 33K will be there to lead MD33, like we have for the last 6 years in a row! Last year PDG Steve capped off his year by setting an all-time record for District 33K LCIF fundraising. Thanks to all of you, we raised $83,416 last year. A new 33K record! And 100% club participation as well. WOW !!!!!

And the need has not subsided. Fires, flooding, tornados, the war in Ukraine, all ravage on. And all of LCIF’s causes like diabetes, hunger, children’s cancer and the environment to name a few, still need funds and help more than ever before.

DG Ivette has some big plans and goals for 2023-24, that she will unveil at the First Cabinet meeting in August and First Advisory in September. Until then, Club Presidents and all Lions should start thinking about LCIF dedicated fund-raising ideas and finding ways to helping the World through YOUR Foundation!

This will be a record-breaking year and it will be because of your efforts and those of our awesome clubs, Lions and Leos.

District 33K, can we be 100% in participation? YES WE CAN!! On to 100!!!!

YIL, PDG Andy Porter District 33K LCIF Coordinator 2023 – 2024

Global Service Team (GST)

International President Patti Hill’s theme this year is “Changing the World”. By increasing our service we can work to engage and so retain our dedicated Lions as well as attract new Lions who wish to be a part of meaningful service that WILL change our world! It is necessary to continue to strengthen our community connections and work to forge new partnerships as everyone seeks to accomplish more Members don’t join to go to meetings, or eat dinners, or fundraise. They join to make a difference. They want to be relevant, to create positive change in their community and world. Last year our incredible 33K Lions conducted 1,907 projects and donated just under 40,000 service hours, serving just over 720,000 people. Awesome, Lions-let’s beat that this year!

Reporting remained above 91% for the 2022-23 year and we expect to continue that very long-standing streak in 2023-24! While the new Lion Portal is not yet up and ready, My Lion and My LCI continue to be functional, and all reporting should still be completed there. The new Portal looks amazing and very intuitive! Fingers crossed for a smooth transition. As always, if you need help reporting, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Your 33K Eyemobile continues to look for ways to expand our involvement in the KidSight program. Our MA Lions have also been approached to be the primary screeners for school-age children and we are looking at those logistics. It is always a great time to connect with local preschools, daycares, Head Starts, etc. to offer SPOT screenings! As a reminder, we do have two SPOT screeners with a router and printer set up available exclusively for KidSight program use. We have additional Spot screeners on the Eyemobile and will have MA Regulations compliant eye screening charts too.

As you may know, 33K was the recipient of three Community Impact Grants. These grants were made possible by the generous contributions of YOU, our 33K Lions Clubs. Annually since 2017, we receive 15% of non-designated grants (i.e. area of greatest need/general service fund donations) above a minimal giving threshold of $10,000. Grant one has been expended in support of the Framingham Flyers Special Olympics team, to help them with uniform and equipment bag needs. Another will go to Project Just Because to buy sneakers for middle school students in need in an effort to help reduce bullying. The third-and largest-will get our 33K Eyeglasses Recycling program established. We will be buying one lensometer and replenishing some essential supplies previously donated by Lions.

My role as GST Chair is trifold: to provide access to ideas and resources for service, to encourage and support service reporting, to effectively advocate, educate and celebrate all we do to make our world a better place. I am here (myearlylight@comcast.net) to serve you.

Dawn Rice-Norton, 33K/MD33 Global Service Team Chair

Global Membership Team (GMT)

District 33K Lions,

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable summer so far. For those of you that volunteered or attended LCICon 2023 in Boston, that you have all recovered from an amazing week.

I look forward to working with DG Ivette this year.

I would like to thank DG Ivette for the opportunity to serve as District Membership Chair for 2023-2024. The membership team this year is 1st VDG Diana Faust, PZC Paul Ciccolo, PRC Holly Dono and Steven Levy from Marlboro.

This year we will all need to work together to help achieve DG Ivette’s goals. Hopefully we will be able to:

Add at least two new members to each club
Help small clubs grow membership by having membership drives throughout the district.

Our team’s goal is not only to help bring in new members, but to also retain the members we must have better communication and hands on activities. To that end, if you have any ideas, we would love to hear from you. This is the year we must think outside the box.

LCI has a new initiative this year called Mission 1.5 to help achieve a global membership of 1.5 million worldwide by 2027.

I know if we all work together this year, District 33K will do our part toward that goal.

During the upcoming year we will be working with Club Presidents, Secretaries, and Membership Chairs to develop Membership Nights in each part of the District. Lastly please remember that LCI has membership material readily available online. If your club is in need of assistance, please contact your GMT Team….We are here for you!!

Membership is everyone’s responsibility.

Thank you all in advance,

PDG Dr. Deb Wayne, GMT Chair

Club Reporting – What Counts and Does Not Count

REPORT ME

All Volunteer Activities — if you coach, mentor, or otherwise provide services to youth groups or adults, report those activities. These do not have to be Club activities, they can be individual contributions. Meals on Wheels, helping a neighbor, tutoring, providing assistance at your house of worship, etc. can (and should) be included.

This includes any time you spend volunteering on committees in town!

Donations — if you are contributing money (instead of time) report that as well. This is helpful for us to gauge the impact Club members are having more broadly.
Committee Work — if you are part of a Club committee and you are meeting, working on an event, or working to set up an event, report it!

Still not clear? Report it anyway! Your Club Secretary can reach out if they are uncertain about what should be counted or not.

DO NOT REPORT ME

Individual members need not report their attendance at club meetings. However, Club secretaries should report this information on MyLion using the “meeting” section.

Political Work — unfortunately we do not get credit for work on political campaigns. While we appreciate your contributions to the civic knowledge of our community, working for a candidate does not count.

However, if you are a POLL worker, that DOES count! Still not clear? Report it anyway! Your Club Secretary knows the rules and they can reach out to GST or GLT for help if they are uncertain.

Remember, this is YOUR Bulletin!

We welcome all types of information in our Bulletin. If you have information you feel would be valuable across the district, please feel free to send a writeup (with or without photos) to doreenmartel@doreenamartel.com prior to the 25th of the month.

A friendly reminder: we do not include flyers for events in the bulletin, but you can email them and find them on the District website. Please make sure you put upcoming events in the calendar!