Lions Club of Indiana

The Lions Club is an international service organization with a strong hold in Indiana; Hoosier Lions come together to improve the community and the world. These noble individuals have been working together for almost a century to better the world through charitable work. In that century, the Lions Club has expanded to become a presence all over the world including Europe, Asia, and Africa. But the origins of the Lions Club hits close to home for Hoosier members.

In 1911, Dr. William P. Woods of Evansville, Indiana, founded a fraternal organization and secret society called the “Royal Order of Lions.” Though this group disband only a few short years later, the idea of an organization still percolated in the heads of its members. They reformed the group in 1915 with a more service oriented mission. Around the same time, Melvin Jones of Chicago, Illinois was independently inspired to start his own service organization.

After hosting a convention in his home state, Melvin Jones joined forces with the successors of Dr. William P. Woods to create the Lions Club. Clubs began popping up all over the United States as a way for people to get involved in their communities. Just three years after the clubs formation, it became international when it spread to provinces in Canada. In Indiana, clubs speckle the state map. This Indianapolis nonprofit organization has deep roots in the ways of do-gooders.

Perhaps the most influential moment in Lions Club history was in 1925, when Helen Keller addressed the international convention. She urged them to take up the fight against preventable blindness and to champion new education methods for the blind. She charged them to become, “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”

With the advent of their SightFirst program in 1990, the Lions Club found that this cause was still at the center of their hearts. They poured over 135 million dollars into a program thats mission is to rid the world of preventable and reversible blindness by helping health care connect with those in desperate need of it.

In addition, the Lions Club has many other programs to benefit the community including Youth programs, international relations programs, health program, and envrionmental programs. The Lions Club has their fingers in many pies. The results of their noble work have improved the quality of millions of lives over the years.

The Lions have dozens of clubs across the Hoosier state. They have been working to improve life for Indianapolis kids, Indianapolis education, Indianapolis community, and Indianapolis health. They have been serving Indiana from the following places:

• Chesterton, Indiana
• Crown Point, Indiana
• Ogden Dunes, Indiana
• Portage, Indiana
• Rolling Prairie, Indiana
• Schererville, Indiana
• Valparaiso, Indiana
• Auburn, Indiana
• Stroh, Indiana
• Brownsburg, Indiana
• Cloverdale, Indiana
• West Lafayette, Indiana
• Whitestown, Indiana
• Zionsville, Indiana
• Carmel, Indiana
• Kokomo, Indiana
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Columbus, Indiana
• Connersville, Indiana
• and many many more.

For a complete listing of Lions Clubs in Indiana visit their website here. Find one in your community, and find out how you can get started by making a difference in the world.