MD1 State of Illinois Lions & Leos Monthly e-Magazine for the month of June 2020

Newest Member of MD1 got inducted to Chicago

MD1 e-Magazine (Full) Vol. 7 - Issue 12, June 2020 6

LION HINA TRIVEDI FROM CHICAGO INDO-US LIONS CLUB SERVING FIRST RESPONDERS WITH LIONS FACE MASK ON IN CHICAGO

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despite the Pandemic which has limited our time with her. The final Council Meeting for this Lions Year will be held on June 6th. It will be an on-line meeting using Zoom. If you plan on attending, please let Mary know so she can add you to the meeting.

Council Chair Speaks:

This will be my last article for the State Magazine as your Council Chair. I would like to express my gratitude for the opportunity to serve the Lions of Illinois. I want to thank the Governors and Committee Chairs for their efforts this year on behalf of the Lions, and for the support they have given me. It truly was a pleasure working with all of you.

Congratulations to the members of the next Council of Governors and their Council Chair, soon to be PDG Joe Vinyard from 1-BK. I know you will do a great job for the Lions of MD-1. A complete list of the officers and Chairs for next year is posted on the MD-1 web site.

I would like to thank the Council of Governors for their hard work during the past year, and our SST Mary Pemberton who has done a wonderful job in the State Office

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The State is in good shape for the incoming council with the Audit for the 2018-2019 year almost complete.

With the new accounting system and a SST in place, next years Audit should be back on a normal schedule. I want to thank PCC Terry and the Finance Committee for their work on getting this done with Mary.

Illinois is finally reopening some businesses and is moving into Phase 3 of the recovery, but it looks like restrictions will continue to limit what we can do into the next Lions year. I know as Lions you will all continue to serve to the best of your ability in your communities. We will need to adapt and think up new ways to operate, raise funds, and recruit new members during the Pandemic restrictions.

Stay Safe and continue to serve.

-Lion Jerome Perez, MD-1 Council Chair ----------------------------------------------------------

MD1 Lions & Leos Monthly e-Magazine

MD1 Leadership Chair (GLT)

Other electronic resources include EBooks with live links to current information. Check out the E-Books for President and First Vice President Secretary Treasurer Club Membership Chair Club Service Chair Club Marketing Communications Chair

This is typically the time when new officers are named. Clubs begin looking to move from one Lions’ year to another.

New officers are anxiously awaiting their opportunities to learn about their new responsibilities whether that be by mentoring from another knowledgeable Lion, participating in face to face training or experiencing virtual or electronic learning. The pandemic has changed this. There will likely not be many face to face trainings or even mentoring, but there is the virtual world.

Recently, I attended a webinar offered

by Lions Clubs International on Officer Training. It was an excellent resource.

The recording of the webinar can be seen by going to

There are also Club Officer Webpages for President/First Vice President Secretary Treasurer Membership Chair Service Chair Marketing Communications Chair LCIF Coordinator To reach either the E-books or Webpages, go to www.lionsclubs.org Use the search box to get to the Ebooks or Webpages.

Be the best officer you can be during these difficult times. Check out the resources available on the Lions Clubs International website!

https://lionsclubs.org/en/virtual-eventscenter

Lions of MD1,

Scroll done. Find the title. Click on the recording. The vimeo recording is then available for viewing.

-Jama Wahl, GLT jamawahl@yahoo.com ---------------------------------------------------

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Campaign Extended; COVID-19 Grants Issued Like so many things, your Lions Clubs International Foundation is functioning in a different way. A recent virtual LCIF board meeting has extended the Campaign 100: LCIF Empowering Service program for an additional year. This because the team working in the field has had to change plans. If your club is having a Zoom meeting, you can contact your district chair and arrange to have them join you. Please check your e-mail, facebook, and all other means regularly for information from the us, or for that matter all Lions working on the District and State level. Share information.

Our service is needed now more than ever. As this is prepared 232 COVID-19 grants have been issued totaling $3,877,439. $258,482 has been received by Lions in the United States to fight the virus. Together as Lions we have been answering the need. Please consider joining us, as the Lions year comes to a conclusion, sharing if you can.

Internationally we have reached just over half of the original goal.

Thank you so much for your support, and let us see if we can make June a great final month for this Lions year.

Contact any of the chair persons for Campaign 100: LCIF Empowering Service: Multiple District1-A Chair PDG Wes Salsbury, ionwes2011@gmail.com 1-BK PDG John Joseph Honiotes, johnjoseph1bk@gmail.com 1-CN PDG Lydia Ellis, Serve2dgillinois@yahoo.com 1-CS Lion Ruben Owen, rso1119@hotmail.com 1-D PDG Duane Shaw, dcshaw1945@sandprairie.net 1-F Lion Mary Reading, readingforsight@aol.com 1-G PDG Jerry Effert, jeiff@frontiernet.net 1-H Lion Al Henning, allenhenning@att.net 1-J PDG Ed Carter, edward0022@att.net 1-M PDG Kevin Mendenhall, kmendy1@yahoo.com

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Last Month MD1 lost: PDG Ben Dodge's wife, Lion Carolyn Dodge, passed away.

Lion Lou Torres, Past District Governor, 1-A, (1999-2000) passed away ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Elections were held Saturday May 16th using the Election Runner web-based election tool and GoTo Meeting for the incoming council of Governors on-line meeting. The election results were tallied by the current Council Chair and Parliamentarian as required. The elected officers are as follows: Council Chair Vice Council Chair Council Secretary Council Treasurer Council Chaplain Council Tail Twister

Joe Vinyard John Barsanti Debra Greaney Bill Wallpe Derek Eurales Sue Wolf

In addition, the following appointments were made by the incoming council.

Parliamentarian GMT GLT GST Campaign and Liaison State Magazine State Convention Lions Eye Health Information Technology

Steve Anton, PCC Barb Stewart, PDG Jama Wahl Carla Haga Bud Wahl, PID Dr. Austin D’Souza, PDG Terri Pasternik Bob Jilke, PDG Tom Drez

I hope you will all join me in congratulating the 2020-2021 MD-1 Officers and Leaders for the next Lions Year.

-CC Jerome 14

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The Pride of the Community There is a service organization within town that does its best to serve all those who are in need within the Community. The Noon Lion’s Club of Knox County has been a fixture of the area for decades. You might see a Lion working at the local food bank, helping run a blood drive with MVRBC, or finding ways to help organize holiday parties for children with disabilities. Truth be told, there are countless other variations in which you might see a Lion, all of which show the passion and dedication each has for service to their community. I have had the privilege of brushing elbows (at least 6 feet apart) with their ilk for the last 6 weeks or so, and I can say that their compassion is palpable as well as contagious. They act with efficiency and with a smile. Frankly, this meal delivery has gotten so large that it would be logistically impossible to do it without the Noon Lion’s Club at this point.

Their initiative is truly something to behold, and I for one am very grateful for all their efforts, though I know there are at least 220 seniors in Knox County who appreciate it much more. These last 6 weeks have been very eye opening to the necessity for services such as “Home Delivered Meals” to 16

the seniors of Knox County. The first delivery that went out took only 3 teams of 2 people for a total of 6 Lions traversing the county to ensure our seniors do not go to bed hungry. On May 1st we will have completed our largest delivery to date with 7 teams of 2 Lions delivering with almost 3000 meals going out the door. The VNA could not be more pleased with the budding partnership that has sprouted out of the proverbial muck that is C19. While thinking about this piece, I decided to reach out to long-time Lion, Ronald Beebe. Ron has been instrumentally fantastic in all our dealings and has become a sort of de-facto Volunteer Coordinator towards our efforts, and I have to say that we are not paying him enough. The questions and answers are as follows: Michael: What made you decide to help VNA? Ron: Quite frankly, we decided to help the VNA because they asked for our help.

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From the Director’s Desk Thank you, Galesburg As I sit here at my makeshift work-from-home desk, I’m listening to the steady sound of my clock. Ticking. It has been approximately 38 days, 10 hours, 23 minutes, and 48 seconds since the shelter in place order was effective in Illinois, not that I am counting. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for my staff and my board of directors, not to mention our dedicated partner agencies going into full superhero mode making sure we are aided. I don’t think our accountants, our bankers, and our non-profit friends have slept in the last 38 days, 10 hours and… you get the gist.

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When the rest of the world seemed to stop, our work was just beginning. I’ve had dreams arriving to work without any volunteers to deliver to our 200 hungry seniors. I’ve been jolted out of bed after nightmares of losing our PPP loan and being unable to pay employees. Some nights, I’m in cold sweats, fretting over where we would find the money to feed over three times our regular home delivered meal requests. Time was ticking. We were on the clock, and I didn’t have the power to slow it down. A month into the pandemic, time caught up with me; I caught myself cupping my face in my hands and crying over my keyboard feeling stuck and lost. How much more can we take?

Not long after this teary moment, I heard the familiar voice of Tiffany Springer from the Community Foundation. “We’re here to support you”, and her call was followed by the next, and the next…and the next, like the sun showing its face after a storm.

Lion’s Club, First Lutheran Church, United Way of Knox County, The Galesburg Community Foundation, F&M Bank, Courtney and Aldrich, my finance committee, my Board of Directors, work colleagues… their timing was impeccable.

As if rehearsed, they each reassured me, “Ellen, VNA, we’re here for you, we won’t let you sink.” The organizations support system grew far beyond our agency walls.

the minds behind the works to make everything run smoothly. Soon, all of the community started working together; little cogs and gears running tirelessly to keep that clock ticking in time, in tandem, without missing a beat. No sooner had I wiped my tears did I have money coming in grants and loans, volunteers through partner agencies and service organizations, and insight and wisdom from contractors and business friends. All the little parts were magically fitting together not only did they keep the VNA alive, oh no, much bigger, they also made us better than we were before. Not one piece was missing.

The community enabled my organization to serve over three times our normal meal production in little under a week! Grants, volunteers, partnerships, insight, advice, and support all pieced together an amazing result. Not one senior that has crossed our path has gone without food. We have an even better program than before, an impact that we did not know we could have in this community before this disaster hit.

The anxious ticking clock became a heartbeat, one that the friends of the VNA created that now steadies my workday and mobilizes food to the homes of half our counties seniors. After this pandemic, if anyone is a believer in this small but mighty community, then it’s me.

And for that, Galesburg, I thank you.

There are many needs an organization has in the middle of a crisis like this. The first, biggest, and most daunting: money; the second, more intricate and complex: people and volunteers. Third, last but never least: 17

Yours,

Ellen Larsen, Executive Director

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a Regional Lions Leadership Institute (RLLI).

Funding for the event is provided by MD1 and a grant from Lions Clubs International.

That means housing and meals are covered for participants. The only cost to the participant is transportation to and from East Peoria.

That translates to a great learning experience with little or no cost to the attendee. Each of the ten districts in MD1 has the chance to send three up and coming Lions to this event. This means thirty attendees from around the state of Illinois. Interested Lions should contact their sitting District Governor to notify him/her of your interest.

The Highland Diner and High Lions Club came together to show appreciation for our Highland area first responders. The first responders were treated to meals cooked by the Highland Diner during the week of April 27th. The diner providied the meals at a discount, and the Highlands Lions will pick up the check. We always appreciate our first responders for the excellent job they do protecting our city, but during these days of Covid-19 they continue to protect and serve putting themselves harm’s way to protect the citizens of Highland. Pictured are Kuijtim Useini Highland Diner Owner, Russ Huebeger Lions President, and Ed Campbell.

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A Leadership Enrichment Opportunity On August 28-30, 2020 at the Holiday Inn and Suites East Peoria, MD1 will be hosting 18

Or, email MD1 GLT Coordinator, Jama Wahl at jamawahl@yahoo.com Provide your name, club, district, email and phone number. During this weekend of personal leadership development, topics will include Lion Fundamentals, Working in Teams, Public Speaking, Personal Mission statement, Member Motivation, Local Issues, Goal Setting and Diversity. It is a great chance to build a leadership toolbox and grow in Lionism. Opportunity is knocking! Answer the door!

-Jama Wahl, GLT jamawahl@yahoo.com ---------------------------------------------------------Moweaqua: April 11th wasn’t a traditional Easter celebration for Moweaqua Lions Club, but they were so glad they were able to serve their community!! Moweaqua Lions Club offered two different opportunities for the little ones to get a glimps of the Easter Bunny and two tickets

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"clean" We missed all our Lion members but wanted to keep us all safe and continue to serve!!

Rochester Lions Club has been offering free meals to essential services through local restaurants. Appreciating these workers that keep our communities safe and running smoothly while supporting local business during the pandemic is a great way to show what Lions do best – WE SERVE ----------------------------------------------------------

SMALL PICTORIAL US HISTORY LESSON BY GERI CASSENS:

were placed in random treat bags for the Easter baskets giveaway. On the tickets were instructions for safe delivery of the prize baskets. P.S. We did our best to make sure everything in the basket was cleaned and micro baned. Sorry if they smell a little 19

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Here is our Chicago INDO-US Lions and AUCI mission to help Health Workers amid COVID-19.

We do this 2 x week and 3 x week food for kids and elderly more than 250 people.

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Laura Bradley and Incoming President Donna Mikolajczyk. Lion Mark Ferguson is the chair of the project.

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We visit Senior Centers in Du Page and Cook County and over 260 people and give away supplies and aslo we planted 10 trees donated to us by the village.

Thank to all lions team work!

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The Hardscrabble Lions of Streator "masked up" and unfurled the flags down Main Street to celebrate Memorial Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July. Seen in the photo are PID Bud Wahl, Club President 25

Westmont Lions Club President Lion Stella Qualizza shows some of the masks that she has stitched for the club to donate.

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---------------------------------------------------------Malta Lions Club recently hosted the DeKalb Community Gardens Grow Mobile.

The food was prepackaged and cars drovethrough for pick-up.

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Sycamore Lions supported Meals on Wheels with a donation and meal delivery on Easter this year. It was different having to practice social distancing and implementing CDC recommendations during the event.

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Westmont Lions Club has reached 500 "likes" on its Facebook Page!

Congratulations!!

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Twenty-four individuals in total representing Darien Lions Club at the District 1J Bowling Tournament. Looks like everyone had fun!

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Algonquin Lions Club’s Virtual Meeting.

This is a new process for many clubs, but a definite necessary one since we cannot have a large number of Lions at a meeting nor is there a restaurant open for us at which to have our meeting.

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Cortland Lions, sponsoring the DeKalb County Community Gardens pop-up food pantry, delivered potatoes, onions, strawberries, apples, blackberries, raspberries and more to Cortland residents.

Crystal Lake Lions Club Pres. Lion Bill Davies (l) presents a $1,000 check to Joanna Bradshaw (r), Intake Coodinator for the Crystal Lake Food Pantry. You will note that this took place rather early in the Coronavirus Pandemic so, while both are wearing face masks, they are shaking hands, a Pandemic No-No. ---------------------------------------------------------

Crystal Lake Lions Club Pres. Lion Bill Davies (r) presents a $1,000 check to Jeff Pal, Volunteers and Community Relations Manager for the Salvation Army in Crystal Lake. It appears that the Coronavirus rules are still not being followed. While there is no handshake and both are wearing masks, it looks as if the six-foot social distancing rule is not being followed. Well, Lions, there is still time to learn!!

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Aurora Noon Lion Joe Beary and his wife Lesley created face masks to give away.

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Lesley sews the masks and Lion Joe gives them the final pressing. Since early April, Lesley has sewn about 80 masks, taking an hour for each one. Now retired, she uses a stash of material leftover from teaching sewing at Waldo and Simmons Middle Schools in East Aurora for 41 years. She also makes masks for fellow parishioners at St. Rita Catholic Church in Aurora, a community Bridge Club, and members of Aurora Noon Lions Club.

location on the 4th Tuesday of each month.

A Wilkinson Pantry at East Aurora High School serves students and the public.

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A Retired teacher, Aurora Noon Lion Dick

Schindel, was among the Aurora Area Retired Teachers Association who donated $400 to the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry. (l to r) Meg Safarik, AARTA Treasurer, Diane Renner, Wilkenson Pantry Executive Director, and Lion Dick Schindel, AARTA President. AARTA volunteers help to distribute food to Wilkinson's West Aurora 33

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A few Lemont Lions have been busy making masks for those in need. At last count, they made over 1900 masks! Needless to say, they were in need of a new sewing machine. Lion Ken Roberts, Joliet Noon, graciously donated one to the cause. Here it is being picked up and delivered! Thank you Lion Ken and Lemont Lions for all you are doing to help others during this pandemic!

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The Hardscrabble Lions of Streator donned their social distancing masks to safely hoist the flags on Main Street in honor of Memorial Day, Flag Day and the Fourth of July. Shown in the photos are Lion Mark Fergeson, Flag Chairman, with Lions Karen Ranger, Laura Bradley, Patty Ferguson and Bud Wahl loading the truck.

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TAMPICO LIONS CLEANED THEIR MEMORIAL GAZEBO

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Lions Landscaping,-L-R Lion 1st Vice Terry Gaskill and Lion Duane Thompson standing in front of the gazebo.

March and also to all those that purchased roses that were delivered the Saturday before Easter.

TLC supports the Tampico area with exams and eye glasses for those in need and cannot afford them, sponsors the Easter Egg Walk and annual Tampico Homecoming Parade. TLC gives out two $500 scholarships each year to graduating seniors of the Prophetstown/Lyndon/ Tampico (PLT) High School that plans to continue their education. TLC packs bags of candy andn elps Santa & Mrs. Clause give out the bags to Tampico Grade School children and staff the last school day in December and decorates Reagan Park with Christmas Lights.

Tampico Lion Members worked Friday May 22nd at the Tampico Lions Memorial Gazebo in memory of all deceased Members of the Tampico Lions Club (TLC).

Special thanks goes to nonmembers that helped clean the area and cut down dead trees.

TLC will have two final meetings this fiscal year on June 8th and 22nd at the Lions Memorial Gazebo since they cannot meet inside the Tampico Area Community Building (TACB) due to the virus as it is shut down for now.

Thank you for the community in supporting the fundraisers of the TLC breakfast that was held the 1st Sunday in 35

(Picture L-R Lion President Connie Mikles and Lion Treasurer Duane Thompson).

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was a great idea to keep our club engaged during social isolation! — with June Kim, Lion Melissa Reyes, Lion Joshua Friedman, Lion Richard Castillo, Lion Corina Castillo, Lion Grisell Barraza, Lion Melissa Nadeau, Lion Carolyn Hall, Richard Marsoun and Lion Kristopher Kempski.

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District 1A GLT Zoom Meeting arranged by chair Gail Anton with International II Vice President Brian Sheehan in May, 2020. He spoke about NAMI. ---------------------------------------------------------May 21st District 1A GLT group had their second Zoom Meeting with I International Vice President Douglas Alexander.

On May 23rd District 1A had their 3rd Zoom Cabinet Meeting.

Chicago Windy City Lions had a virtual class today led by Lion Melissa Reyes. We learned about 'The Art of Negotiation". This 42

During COVID-19 pandamic, Virtual Meeting was the best source to keep connected with Club, District, State and International Lions Members. Many Lions took advantage of this and had successful Virtual Meetings.

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