Lions Of Mississippi/Lions Sight Foundation Magnolia Lion

Li ons of Mi ssi ssi ppi / Li ons S i ght Founda t i onMagnolia LionOctober 2022White Cane DaysWhite Cane Days.A Vision in Bloom !White Cane Funds: MS Lions Eye Bank Hearing and Deaf Deaf Camp DiabetesAwareness Sea and SunCamp Sight ScreeningInside this issue:A Vision in Bloom1As I See It215 Guns in 15 Days3District 30-MNews4Light for Sight5District 30-SNews6Avery McKinley Award7By Cindy Bamburg,White Cane ChairmanWhat is your bestmemory of being aLion? When growingup in Columbia, Louisiana, the ColumbiaLions Rodeo established wonderful images in my mind.From the excitementof the cowboys and The rich deep red color of ourglorious Camellia reminds me ofcowgirls competing the visions that we Lions share.for prizes in rodeoevents to the appreciavisions in my mind whention of our community to I heard the word –the sights and sounds of “Lions”.our Caldwell ParishThen, I became a LionBand marching by in the in the Biloxi Lions Club.New stories and imagesLions Rodeo Parade,of service tied with fundthese memories fromraising were steadilythose days formed theadded to my database.Like the one an old Liontold me about sellinglight bulbs. On a rainyevening in September,this Lion was trying tosell the last boxes of incandescent light bulbs inhis case when he walkedup to the front porch ofan old shotgun housethat looked like youcould throw a catthrough the walls. Afamily sat on the porchand the man said, “Ihave been waiting foryou! Years ago your Lions Club bought myMomma a pair of glassesand she was able to get abetter job to provide forus kids! Thank you! Iwant to buy two boxes ofyour light bulbs!” (cont.pg. 2)All-State Band Brings Home Another International TitleThe Lions of MississippiAll-State Band recentlybrought home its 36thLions Clubs International All-State Band Championship, which washeld in Montreal, Canada. The competition isheld annually in conjunction with the LionsClubs International Convention. The band is ledby Director/ManagerJeff Cannon. “We arevery proud of our bandthis year,” said Cannon.In addition to winninganother Internationalcompetition, our bandwas also asked to marchand perform on behalf ofInternational PresidentDouglas X. Alexander.What an honor!

fellow Mississippian that has experienced this firsthand is RachelMcHann.With two active children and a careerthat keeps her traveling the southeast,Rachel McHann’s life had alwaysoverflowed with to-dos. She lovedattending softball and basketballgames and hitting the road for a busyweek of work advocating for organdonation. She would have neverdreamed that one day she’d find herself in need of a transplant, just likemany of the patients she encounteredin her work.By Kellie Wier, RN, CTBSIn March of 2020, as the world wasslowing down, Rachel was enjoyingWith your support, Mississippi Lions more time at home with her family.Eye Bank continues to work diligent- On a bright spring day, she was headly to restore sight to fellow Mississip- ed towards a nearby running trail forpians and othersacross the countryand the world. Oneway we do this isthrough corneal transplantation. A corneathat is injured ordamaged by diseasecan become swollenand scarred, whichcan cause pain andblurry vision. OneAs I See It A Vision in Bloom Today Lions do much more than giveassistance to blind and visually impaired people. Extraordinary imagesof service to others continue to beengraved in my mind and on thehearts of Lions everywhere. The Mississippi Lions Eye Bank procures anddistributes corneal tissue for transplantation. The Diabetes AwarenessProgram educates the public regarding the life-threatening nature of diabetes, the need for early detectionand to facilitate Destiny’s Camp foryoung Mississippians diagnosed withdiabetes. Each summer, blind andvisually impaired children are educated and challenged in the speciallydesigned courses of the Sea and SunCamp. Many parents learn abouttheir children’s vision difficultiesthrough invaluable Sight Screeningsconducted by Lions in their localcommunities. Leadership Conferences designed to educate, informand instill the qualities of leadershipin the young men and women of ourstate are held each year. The Hearingand Deaf Program is an informationalresource for those with hearing impairment, and oversees the Lions ofMississippi Deaf Camp. The Mississippi Lions All-State Band, composed of 146 high school student musicians from all over our state, compete annually in the Lions Club International Convention Parade of Nations, and is known around the worldas the best more times than any otherband and is one of Mississippi’sgreatest ambassadors. Now thesemany acts of beautiful devotion andservice form the visions in my mindan afternoon jog when a tree branchscratched her eye. Two days later,Rachel woke up in severe pain andcould not see from her right eye. After weeks of doctor visits, she learnedthat she would need a corneal transplant.When Rachel opened her eyes andwas able to see again, she knew thather life had been forever changed bythis gift. “To actually open my eyeand be able to see again,” Rachel recalled, “not to be so light sensitive orin pain, was humbling.” Rachel nowlives her life in honor of her donor,focusing on the small pieces of herlife she might not have noticed beforereceiving this gift, like driving forwork or walking the family dog.when I hear “Lions”.VISION IN BLOOM. The rich deepred color of our glorious Camelliasreminds me of the visions that weLions share. This flower is the symbol for our work in the White Canecampaign for 2022-23. Just as Camellias require water and nutrientsfrom the soil to bloom and producethose exquisitely beautiful flowers,so the projects of the Lions of Mississippi need to be nurtured, supportedand funded to continue providing thevisions of service for those in needthroughout our state. When our LionsSight Foundation of MississippiTrustees visit or call your LionsClubs this year, please be ready torespond to the needs across our stateand produce many more Visions inBloom.

District 30-MNewsWhat a privilege it is to serve such a great organization and as your 2022-2023 District Governor. I sincerely thank each of you for thisgreat opportunity to serve. I would also like tothank PDG Tommy Ragan for his dedicationand commitment over the past year to our District and to our Lion’s organization.We had a great 1st quarter Cabinet meeting with36 Lions showing up to make this first outing asuccess. I would like to personally recognizeand thank the Grenada Lions Club for securingour meeting location in the beautiful 1st Presbyterian Church of Grenada. We had a great meeting and elected John Storley as our 2nd ViceDistrict Governor. Our District has gotten off toa great start this year with most clubs payingtheir dues, but we still have 12 clubs as of August 30, 2022, that have not paid their dues. Iwould like to remind these clubs how importantit is to stay current with their dues in order forLions Clubs International (LCI) to be able tocontinue their great work, as well as within ourown district and state, so please get those duespaid. District 30-M has begun the year in a positive light by participating in numerous eyeDistrict GovernorBilly Joe Webbscreening events. With only 6 clubs reporting,as of August 30, 2022, we have screened over1600 kids through the Head Start Program andtheir facilities. I want to thank each of theseclubs for a job well done and to encourage other clubs to join in this most important serviceproject for our young kids. What a differencewe can make to a young child that is havingtrouble reading or seeing the chalkboard. It canbe a life-changing event for them.I think it is important for us to set goals andobjectives for the upcoming year. I would liketo remind our Club Presidents, Secretaries,Treasurers, Zone Chairpersons, etc., and encourage each of you to take advantage of ourLCI and multiple district training sessions. Notonly will it help you serve in these positions,but it will give you a better understanding ofwhat is required to fulfill your office while benefiting your club, district, state, as well as LionsClubs International. I encourage you to contactour Global Leadership Trainer Tommy Raganto schedule a training session. I would also liketo encourage all clubs to increase their localmembership by at least 2 new members overthe next year. We do have a Global Membership Trainer, Barron Caulfield, that would loveto help each club to reach this goal. I know thatwe all stay very busy in our own day to day life,but we are a service organization and I have seta goal for each club to develop and implementone new service project this year. If your clubcan’t come up with a new service project, then Iwould encourage your club to combine theirefforts with another club, to help each other toinitiate a new service project. I have set the barhigh for clubs and for our district, but I knowthat our members will motivate each other, andwe can accomplish these objectives together.As our International President Brian Sheehan’smotto for this year states, “Together we can”and frankly, together is the only way we canmeet these benchmarks. I firmly believe wehave the best group of dedicated Lions servingin District 30-M and we can attain these newstandards. I challenge each club to join me thisyear to reach these goals.Together we can and together we will serve!Billy Joe Webb, District GovernorDistrict 30-M Leadership Team: VDG Amanda Harrison, DG Billy Joe Webb, and 2nd VDG John Storley.