SUCCESSFUL ZONE MEETING - ZONE 3B

The Lions and Leos of Zone 3B which comprise the Lions clubs of Castries, Vieux Fort, Piton (Soufriere), Gros Islet, Micoud, and the Leo Club of Castries were hosted by the Lions Club of Micoud at the Globe on Saturday September 27, 2014. The meeting, the first for the lionistic year was to report to the Zone Chairman, Lion Michelle Haynes on the clubs’ status, projects and activities for the first quarter of the lion’s fiscal year - (July – September 2014).

The reports highlighted the many service and community activities that were undertaken by clubs covering the District Governor’s core areas of Membership Growth Retention and Development as well as Membership experience, The Club Excellence Process, Leadership, Youth Development and Leos, Environment and Climate Change, Drug/ Alcohol Abuse and Addition, Cancer Awareness and action and Diabetes. In addition clubs highlighted the many challenges facing them and measures undertaken to overcome these. One common thread was that of membership commitment and growth.

Some of the strategies reported for dealing with this challenge include – the Leos introducing a buddy system, The Castries and Piton Lions presenting recognition and motivational awards;. The Gros Islet Micoud and Vieux Fort Club all introducing creative ways to motivate their members. All clubs have indicated that one way of empowering members is through information sharing and in that regard they have all made use of communication tools including both the traditional telephone call and social media.

The Zone received a report from Lion Beatrice Mac Donald, Chairman of the Disaster Trust Fund on the status of the Fund which was set up to provide humanitarian aid in times of natural disasters.

This year the International President has chosen as his theme “Strengthen The Pride” by each one asking one.
He noted that we can “Strengthen the Pride” by bringing the 1.35 million members of our Lion’s family closer together, working in a spirit of cooperation and understanding. This is not the pride of being boastful; it is pride of accomplishment in building communities, providing meaningful service, and helping those who cannot help themselves. This feeling of pride forms the foundation of our commitment to serving others, and has made us the global leader in humanitarian service. This is the platform for success in the coming year, through our centennial, (1917 – 2017) and well into the next hundred years of our association.

Our District Governor on the other hand. has called all Lions and Leos to “Get One Board to Building a Path to service Excellence.” The service excellence which is an appeal - a call to action – and it is a promise!! On this journey, Lions and Leos must represent what is right with our world. Our service to community has to be refashioned to the point where our interactions lead to lasting real world change. Too often we assume that materialistically poor means there is no capacity, no voice, no dignity within a person. And so, we must re-evaluate the way we serve. If we really love the poor, we need to ensure that our service is transformative.

The Zone Chairman was pleased with the work reported and urged clubs to continue to be of service to community. In her remarks she reminded Lions and Leos of the challenge given by both the International President and District Governor to “Each One Ask One” as we seek to Strengthen the Pride in Zone 3b and building on a path to Service Excellence.

In so doing Lions and Leos were asked to reflect on reason/s for becoming a part of this organization “Do we still have that fire burning in us? Is the drive still there? How do we treat each other? Do we treat each other with excellence? Do we serve each other?
She implored lions and Leos, during this lionistic year to not only to improve numbers but also to improve our rapport with each other allowing us to grow as a family …. As a pride.

The Zone Chairman noted that in strengthening the Pride our focus on membership should ensure that we concentrate on building a Successful Team. She highlighted some of the key factors that would make for a successful team such as
• The team understands the goals and is committed to attaining them.
• The team creates an environment in which people are comfortable taking reasonable risks in communicating, advocating positions, and taking action.
• Team members trust each other. Team members are not punished for disagreeing.
• Communication is open, honest, and respectful.
• Team members have a strong sense of belonging to the group
• Creativity, innovation, and different viewpoints are expected and encouraged
• The team is able to constantly examine itself and continuously improve its processes, practices, and the interaction of team members.
• The team has agreed upon procedures for diagnosing, analyzing, and resolving team work problems and conflicts.
• Participative leadership is practiced
• Members of the team make high quality decisions together and have the support and commitment of the group to carry out the decisions made.
Upcoming activities for the Lions and Leos of Zone 3B for the next quarter include

October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month
World Service Day -October 8
World Sight Day - October 9
Sharing the Vision –centennial service award
Membership Growth month

November - Mid-year Conference – Guyana November 20 - 23
Diabetes Awareness Month

December - World Aids Day
International Leos Day
Relieving the Hunger- centennial service award

The Lions and Leos who attended their first meeting found it to be both interesting and productive as they were able to gain insights into the best practices undertaken by others clubs as well as spent time networking.

A job well done – Lions and Leos of Zone 3B as
WE GET ON BOARD TO BUILDING A PATH TO SERVICE EXCELLENCE WHILE STRENGTHENING THE PRIDE