Change Hearts, Change Minds, Change Actions

Dear Lions,

It’s no secret that the world is in need. One of the reasons I became a Lion was because I saw the way Lions were working in their communities to make changes. They were working to make things better for people. And that spoke to me. I wanted to be a part of that.

Today, I couldn’t be more proud to be a Lion, working with all of you, every day, to meet the needs of others. However, sometimes the problems seem so big it’s hard to know where to start. How do we make the big changes needed to see a difference in our world?

We do it by changing ourselves. We do it by first changing our hearts, then our minds. And new actions will follow. We will lead by example. That is how we change the world.

In this issue you’ll see stories that shine a light on a lot of the challenges we face, but in those stories you’ll also see how we are changing, each and every one of us, in order to address those challenges. We’re saying no to single-use plastics. We’re cleaning up beaches in order to build connections in our communities that will forge a deeper relationship between our environment and our cultures. We’re building lighthouses to be a symbol of hope and guidance.

Change is never easy. However, once we recognize the need to change our hearts, we can change our minds. And then it happens. We change. And we create change. This is how we make a difference in our world.

Yours in service,

Douglas X. Alexander

International President, Lions Clubs International