A heart for service

Serving your community by doing voluntary work not only benefits society but also brings rich personal rewards, writes Jayanti Menches

Tony Chan, district governor, Lions Clubs Int'l

Looking beyond their jobs, clubs and families, it is not unknown for Hong Kong professionals to want to give back to their community. Today, 1,700 local members of Lions Clubs International are doing just that. "The motto of our organisation is 'We Serve!' and members not only join us to network but also to participate in the spirit of volunteerism," says Tony Chan, district governor of District 303, covering Hong Kong and Macau.

Indeed, the extent of the service projects developed and implemented by the Lions is incredible. Entirely organised and run by volunteer members, they can involve all or just a few of the region's 54 active clubs and range from environmental and educational to medical causes.

Recently, for example, the Lions worked with the Hong Kong Blind Union to conduct a fundraising walkathon for White Cane Day. Members handled all the logistics, from booking the venue to issuing invitations and managing publicity.

Education is another favourite cause. With the formation of the club's educational foundation, Lions College was founded in Kwai Chung in 1995. Members also funded and built a primary school in the New Territories and, working with the Agricultural and Fisheries Department, set up a Lions Nature Education Centre in Sai Kung in support of a worldwide environmental protection programme.

In addition, a kidney education centre, established by the Lions with support from the Health Department, provides dialysis for the elderly. The Hong Kong Eye Bank, another Lions project, delivers cornea transplants to those in need, while Sight First, a project in mainland China, works to eliminate preventable blindness by providing cataract surgery to the impoverished and truly changes lives.

Invitation only

Joining the Lions Club takes more than just paying the HK$1,000 membership fee, the HK$1,800 annual fee and the recommended HK$1,500 annual voluntary contribution to the service project fund.

Membership is by invitation only. According to Mr Chan, each club is encouraged to recruit members by inviting friends and community leaders to bi-weekly or monthly lunches. Potential candidates usually attend at least three before a mutual understanding is reached about how they fit the Lions Club spirit. Asked about the right quality for membership, he replies, "A heart for service".

Most members are professionals from small and medium-sized businesses. When the club was established in the United States in 1917, it was all male, but this practice was abolished in the late 1980s and equal rights were established, according to Mr Chan. He notes that, although 80 percent of the Hong Kong and Macau districts' members are male, the number of women joining the ranks is growing.

Focus on service

A surveyor by profession, Mr Chan was introduced to the Lions Club in 1995. After 20 years in the surveying business, he decided to run for district governor of the Lions Club and set aside his business for one year in order to avoid any conflict of interest and focus on the position.

"Before I joined the Lions Club, all my friends and colleagues were connected to real estate or surveying - just one sector of the economy," he says. "Now I'm teamed up with professionals and experts from different walks of life. I have also changed spiritually and no longer look for monetary returns, just personal fulfilment."

His advice for young professionals? "Spend some time repaying the community. Government budget deficits have resulted in cuts in subsidies to charitable organisations. More people should come out and help each other."

Taken from Career Times 2004/01/30