Annual Leo Video Contest Showcases Young Talent

The Binan Leo Club in the Philippines is this year’s top winner of the annual Leo Video Contest.

It is the 6^th year of the annual contest, which celebrates the many varieties of Leos and their service projects since the inception of the Leo Club Program 63 years ago. This year Leos were asked to show how they served safely, stayed connected, and inspired others with this year’s theme #HopeConnects.

There was a total of 53 submissions from 22 countries, with videos representing all Constitutional Areas. The public voting page was visited by people in 100 countries, and the top 10 videos received more than 12,000 public votes.

This year’s winners were announced on December 5, which is International Leo Day. Their videos can be viewed here.

1st Place: Binan Leo Club – Philippines

2nd Place: Tucunduva Leo Club – Brazil

3rd Place: SMK Buloh Kasap Leo Club – Malaysia

The Binan Leos earned the US$1,000 prize with their video about helping school children in their community access the internet. The Binan Leos believe that with education comes hope, the Leos addressed their community’s lack of internet access for students reliant on remote learning during the pandemic. Because fewer than half of the students have steady internet access, the Leos started the Sandata Para Sa Eskwela (Weapon for School) project. With US$2,000 raised by the Binan Leos and their Lion sponsors, they were able to donate multiple Wi-Fi’s and a school year’s data cost for eight public schools in their community. Students who had to go to neighbors for internet access can now focus on their studies while staying safely in their homes.

Second place and the US$500 prize went to the Tucunduva Leo Club in Brazil.  Leos worked with the sponsoring Brazil Lions to support construction of a new hospital ward to care for the elderly in the city hospital. With virtual campaigns and communication between Leos and Lions, the Leos learned that they could continue to help the community during the pandemic and that the common hope for a better world is what connects them and their sponsoring Lions.

For third place, the SMK Buloh Kasap Leos received US$250. With the help of the Lions of Segamet Jaya, they raised money by selling sanitized, individually wrapped towels to support their community’s non-governmental dialysis center that provides free dialysis to patients who cannot afford it.

“The difference between hope and dreams is when you have hope, you need to have the courage, the commitment, and the action,” says SMK Buloh Kasap Leo Aiman Pang in the video made by his club. “Without action, it’s only a dream.”