Lions International – a Legacy of Global Service

Lions International is the world’s largest global service organization, dedicated to meeting humanitarian needs, fostering peace, and promoting international understanding. Guided by the simple yet powerful motto, “We Serve,” the organization currently coordinates a massive network of over 1.4 million volunteer members (including its youth wing, Leo) across 49,000 local clubs in more than 200 geographic areas worldwide. The organization is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois.

International History and Foundation

The organization owes its origins to Melvin Jones, a 38-year-old Chicago business leader who, in 1917, challenged the members of his local business club to look beyond commercial interests and focus on bettering their communities and the wider world.

Jones’s group, the Business Circle of Chicago, embraced the vision. After connecting with similar groups across the United States, an initial organizational meeting was held in Chicago. Later that year, a national convention in Dallas, Texas, officially established the organization. During this historic gathering, the delegates:

• Adopted a formal Constitution, By-Laws, a Code of Ethics, and the official emblem.
• Established “unselfish service to others” as their core tenet.
• Officially adopted the name Lions Clubs International.

Under Melvin Jones’s lifelong guidance, the association steadily evolved from a national initiative into a massive international service powerhouse.

International Core Mission and Values

For over a century, Lions members have actively served their communities through diverse initiatives. Local club programs focus on critical global and community causes, including:

• Vision: Running projects to prevent blindness and expand access to eye care.
• Diabetes: Raising awareness, promoting education, and funding screenings.
• Hunger: Combating food insecurity with local nutritional support and food drives.
• Childhood Cancer: Providing support, resources, and advocacy for affected children and their families.
• Environment: Promoting sustainability through cleanups, recycling, and tree planting.
• Youth: Empowering the next generation through education, mentoring, and leadership development.
• Disaster Relief: Supplying immediate aid to communities affected by natural disasters.
• Humanitarian Effects: Addressing broader community needs and peace initiatives.

To maintain absolute focus on humanitarian service and unity, the discussion of partisan politics and sectarian religion is discouraged within the organization.

Our Global Impact