Wichita / Kansas / United States
The International Association of Lions Clubs began as the dream of Chicago businessman Melvin Jones. He believed that local business clubs should expand their horizons from purely professional concerns to the betterment of their communities and the world at large. Jones group, the Business Circle of Chicago, agreed. After contacting similar groups around the United States, an organizational meeting was held on June 7, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The new group took the name of one of the invited groups, the "Association of Lions Clubs, " and a national convention was held in Dallas, Texas, USA in October of that year. A constitution, by-laws, objects and code of ethics were approved. Among the objects adopted in those early years was one that read, "No club shall hold out the financial betterment of its members as its object." This call for unselfish service to others remains one of the associations main tenets. Just three years after its formation, the association became international when the first club in Canada was established in 1920. Major international expansion continued as clubs were established, particularly throughout Europe, Asia and Africa during the 1950s and 60s. In 1925, Helen Keller addressed the Lions international convention in Cedar Point, Ohio, USA. She challenged Lions to become "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness." From this time, Lions clubs have been actively involved in service to the blind and visually impaired. Broadening its international role, Lions Clubs International helped the United Nations form the Non-Governmental Organizations sections in 1945 and continues to hold consultative status with the U.N. In 1990, Lions launched its most aggressive sight preservation effort, SightFirst. The US$143.5 million program strives to rid the world of preventable and reversible blindness by supporting desperately needed health care services. In addition to sight programs, Lions Clubs International is committed to providing services for youth. Lions clubs also work to improve the environment, build homes for the disabled, support diabetes education, conduct hearing programs and, through their foundation, provide disaster relief around the world. Lions Clubs International has grown to include nearly 1.3 million men and women in approximately 45, 000 clubs located in over 200 countries and geographic areas. In 1918 at the Second International Convention it was decided to parcel the United States into districts, and each was to have a District Governor. They were numbered from the west coast to the east coast, and the state of Kansas and Oklahoma became District 6. At that time, Kansas had no Lions Clubs. On December 4, 1919, the first Lions Club was chartered in Wichita. An earlier club was started in June of 1917, in Wichita, but it disbanded after its second meeting. In 1921, Kansas became a separate District, and John H. Boys became the District Governor. In 1922, he became an International Director. The first convention was held April 27, 1922, in Hutchinson. However, in International records, Kansas did not become District 17 until July 1921. On June 30, 1921, Kansas had nine clubs, and 340 Lions members. However, convention records show 23 clubs in April 1922. Kansas today is District 17. In July 1937, Kansas had 102 clubs and at that time Kansas subdivided into three districts. They were districts K, A, and N. In 1947, a need for another district was recognized, and Kansas was subdivided into districts K, A, N, and S. Four years later, in 1951, the need again arose, and Kansas was subdivided into eight districts. The four previous districts were each divided into an east and west subdivision, thus creating Districts NE-NW, SE-SW, KE-KW, AND AE-AW. Another drawing of boundaries occurred on July 1, 1965. In 1994 another district configuration was approved at the State Convention in Topeka and took effect July 1, 1995. This configuration changed the total district to seven and is d
