100 years of Lions Clubs International

Date of Issue : 19 May 2017

Austria Post issued a postage stamp on 19th May 2017, to celebrate 100 years of Lions Clubs International.Lions Clubs International is an international secular, non-political service organization founded by Melvin Jones in 1917. As of April 2015, it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members in over 200 countries around the world.Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, the organization aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and global scale.

 Lions Clubs International

In 1917, Melvin Jones, a 38-year-old Chicago business leader, told members of his local business club they should reach beyond business issues and address the betterment of their communities and the world. 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, objectives and a code of ethics were approved. And the rest is history. In 1920: Lions Clubs became international by chartering a club in Windsor, Canada. This year it is celebrating its 100th anniversary.