Lions’ call to service

This was a strong maxim that Lioness Alison Sloane-Seale, council chairperson, underlined while delivering the feature address at the Lions Club International Worldwide Induction Day ceremony, at the Kam Po Restaurant on Saturday.

She told the Lions, “We can do it with dignity if we try as we are, all of us, one big happy family.”

Sloane-Seale reminded the new members who were inducted in Regions three and four, that “commitment to service was your vehicle to render assistance to the poor, the downtrodden, the unfortunate and the disadvantaged and you must be totally involved in that area of activity for this is the main reason why we were formed in 1911.

“Acquire a deep sense of satisfaction from whatever you do to improve the quality of life for those who are really in need,” she said.

Reminding delegates of the code of ethics she said, “when you help the unfortunate in society do so without any sense of profit and when you build up do so without tearing down others.”

She stressed, “Hold friendship as an end in itself and not as a means to an end.” Sloane-Seale told the Lions, “service would become a way of life if you are committed, and always remember that Lionism is a beautiful thing.”

Lion Martin Pacheco, past district governor, who conducted the induction ceremony told the gathering that members belonged to a prestigious worldwide organisation with 44,000 clubs in 185 countries and having a membership of 1.3 million.

He stressed to the blindfolded new members, that “you are now in darkness but when the bandage is removed from your eyes you will enter the world of Lionism and as such take a candle and go out there and light up the lives of those in need for that is the main purpose of your existence.”