1917 The Beginning // Chicago business leader Melvin Jones asked a simpl
e and world-changing question – what if people made a commitment to improving their communities? More than a century later, Lions Clubs International is the largest service club organization in the world, with more than 1.4 million members in 48,000 clubs acting on the same simple idea – when Lions come together for the good of humanity, there's nothing we can't achieve. Learn more....
1920 Going International // Just three years after our founding, Lions became international when we established the first club in Canada. Mexico followed in 1927. In the 1950s and 1960s, international growth accelerated, with new clubs in Europe, Asia and Africa.
1925 
Saving Sight // Helen Keller addressed the Lions Clubs International Convention and challenged Lions to become “knights of the blind.” Since then, we have worked tirelessly to aid those who are blind or visually impaired. An estimated 120 million people are visually impaired because of uncorrected refractive errors. Almost all cases can be corrected and normal vision can be restored with eyeglasses, contact lenses, or refractive surgery. Lions and Leos help to conserve sight by providing usable eyeglasses to children and adults throughout the world.
1945 Uniting Nations // We were one of the first non-governmental organizations invited to assist in the drafting of the United Nations Charter. We host an annual Lions Day with the United Nations to continue our partnership and identify global solutions to the challenges facing humanity.
1957 Organizing Youth Programs // We started the Leo program to provide the 
youth of the world with an opportunity to serve and lead with Lions. There are approximately 180,000 Leos and 7,200 Leo clubs in more than 140 countries worldwide. Leadership, Experience, Opportunity – that' what makes a Leo. Members of Leo clubs embody the best qualities of our incredible organization. They are devoted young people who realize the power of action.
1990 Launching SightFirst // Through the support of LCIF, Lions are restoring sight and preventing blindness on a global scale with the SightFirst program. Launched in 1990, Lions have raised more than US$351 million for this initiative that targets the major causes of blindness.
2017 Celebrating Our Centennial // Lions celebrate a century of service 
by serving more people around the world through a Centennial Service Challenge. To celebrate 100 years of serving humanity, we challenged Lions from around the world to serve 100 million people during our celebration. That number was more than doubled—with more than 248 million people served.
2020 Responding to COVID-19 // Lions found innovative ways to safely serve their communities during this global health crisis. Our global Foundation, LCIF, donated millions of dollars in emergency grant funds, providing critical supplies and equipment to hospitals, medical clinics and emergency management systems, including front-line health care workers and first responders.
