In 1917, a 38-year-old Chicago business leader named Melvin Jones asked a simple and world-changing question—what if people put their talents to work improving their communities? He then challenged other business leaders to serve their community and founded the Lions Club. Today, almost 100 years later, Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with 1.35 million members in more than 45,000 clubs serving in over 206 countries and geographic areas.
Lions Club is best known for fighting blindness—it’s part of its history as well as its work today. This came about when in its early years, the Lions Clubs invited famous blind author and speaker Helen Keller to address their International Convention. She challenged Lions to become “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.” Since then, Lions Clubs around the world have worked tirelessly to aid the blind and visually impaired. In 1990, it launched SightFirst, a program that is restoring sight and preventing blindness on a global scale.
But Lions did not limit its help to the blind. It has volunteered for many different kinds of community projects—including caring for the environment, feeding the hungry, aiding seniors and the disabled, supporting children and young people through scholarships, recreation and mentoring and helping communities following natural disasters by providing for immediate needs such as food, water, clothing and medical supplies—and aiding in long-term reconstruction.
One of the most active Lions Clubs is the Los Angeles Maharlika Lions Club, made up of our kababayans in LA.
Chartered in 1999, the Los Angeles Maharlika Lions Club was organized by Charter President and now District Governor Joel Pastor, Charter Secretary and Past President Dr. Teri Pastor, Past President Dr. Kirk Dizon, Chit Dizon, Cynthia Briones, and Butch Bandong.
The club had 40 Charter Members and held its first Installation of Officers and Induction of Members at the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles in 1999.
In line with the Lions Club’s vision of helping eradicate blindness, LA Maharlika Lions Club’s main focus is to organize and send medical missions to the Philippines concentrating on conducting vision screenings, delivering free cataract surgeries with intraocular lens implants and giving prescription eyeglasses to our impoverished kababayans.
Like many new organizations, the LA Maharlika Lions Club went through the usual growing pains in its early years. But because of the perseverance and tenacity of the leaders and the members, the club achieved one of the highest accolades that a Lions Club can achieve.
Through the past few years, there was a boost in the membership. Dynamic, new leaders joined the club, eager to be one in serving our community both here and back home in the Philippines.
The current President of the Club is another dynamic leader, Boy Lizaso, who took on the office last July 1, 2011. For the past 40 years, Boy Lizaso has been a respected figure in the LA fashion and entertainment industry, being a successful producer and director of many special shows and events and a well-known fashion designer.
During his term as president, Lizaso has been able to lead the LA Maharlika Lions Club into the number 1 slot in the Southern California District (District 4L3). “We are proud to say that currently, during my presidency, we are no. 1 among 65 Lion Clubs in the district. In the entire state of California, we have the biggest number of membership growth and the highest amount of funds raised during our induction ball,” said Boy.
The other officers of the Club currently serving along with Lizaso are 1st Vice President Marvin Baroquillo,2nd VP Wilder Ynoquio, 3rd VP Joe Lagman, Lion Secretary Marissa Dela Fuente-Du, Lion Treasurer Ellen Abejuela M.D., Lion Auditor Susan Aquino M.D.,
Lion Tamer Dado Fabro, Lion Twister Ruben Lagman, Membership Chairwoman Teri Pastor M.D., Immediate Past President Sam Aquino M.D.,Membership Board Irene Igual M.D. and Membership Board Lisa Santos-Cadano.
The current District Governor is Joel Pastor who is the Charter Founder along with his wife, Past President Teri Pastor, MD. The district secretary is Normajean Eustaquio.
The LA Maharlika has sent Medical Missions to the various regions of the Philippines such as Batangas, Romblon, Tarlac, Pampanga, Ilocos Norte and Bacolod.
Every year, the club has sent between 8,000 to 10,000 pairs of eyeglasses for people of all ages back home. This year, 15,000 pairs of eyeglasses were sent to Batangas and Cavite for distribution.
The very first Eye Center in Southern Luzon will be constructed in Batangas City through the generosity of Atty. Tony Pastor, the uncle of District Governor Joel Pastor. This was after Atty. Pastor saw his nephew Joel’s dedication to the Lions’ goal of eliminating preventable blindness worldwide.
The club has conducted the following service programs: the Annual Eye Medical Mission to Indigent Areas in Philippines, Feed the Homeless and Adopt a School thru ABS-CBN Foundation Kapamilya Program.
“It has been said that whenever a Lions Club gets together, problems get smaller. And communities get better. That’s because we help where help is needed—in our own communities and around the world—with unmatched integrity and energy,” said LA Maharlika Lions Club Founder Joel Pastor.
President Boy Lizaso definitely agrees as he reiterates, “The motto of LCI is “We Serve.” And that’s why we are doing our best to help our kababayans, and we will continue to do so for as long as there is a need. My own personal motto for my presidency is to “serve with style,” said Boy, the famous fashion designer who has truly done everything with style.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek Nov 16, 2011 MDWK pg.2)
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