Elburn Lions Club one of largest in country

Twelve years after businessman Melvin Jones founded the first Lions Club in Chicago in 1917, a village of no more than 800 people about 50 miles west of the city chartered its Lions Club with 15 members.

Eighty-one years later, the Elburn Lions Club lays claim to the title of the largest club in the state with 169 members, and one of the top 10 in the country.

It has a way to go to top the Lubbock Lions Club in Texas, the largest club in the country with 340 members, but Elburn's state ranking for a village of only 5,278 people is a source of community pride.

With the Lions being the largest service organization in the world with 1.35 million members and 45,000 clubs worldwide and international headquarters in Oak Brook, the Lions Clubs throughout the region view themselves as part of a larger mission — providing eyeglasses and hearing aids to those in need, helping diabetes research and supporting other important causes in the communities they serve.

Still going strong

How do the Lions keep moving forward in a stubborn recession and a world in which younger men and women have a difficult time juggling work and family responsibilities, thus finding less time to support community causes?

The tougher times and passing of older members has left a dent in Elburn's club, which had 193 members in December of 2008.

“Our last club report showed that we have 169 active members, but we are always looking for people who want to join and help with our charities,” said Uwe Rotter, president of the Elburn Lions. “It always has been more difficult to get younger families involved because their commitment is foremost to their jobs and younger children.”

Rotter said the club understands the situation facing young adults, but feels the Elburn Lions have been successful in bringing in those in the mid-30s to mid-40s age group, partly because of the Leos youth group.

“Their kids are old enough to join Leos, which allows the parents to work events with their children,” Rotter said.

Bill Cornish, at age 53 and president of the Naperville Noon Lions, is considered a young leader in the service club world. But his philosophy about serving the community could be his calling card for seeking new members.

“It's a good way to age,” said Cornish, whose club has 50 members. “I don't want to be a five-day-a-week golf guy (in retirement), I want to contribute to the community, and the Lions Club is just a great social network.”

The Naperville Lions Club has two categories of members — full-time and at-large, with those being people who are able to help at events but can't attend the weekly noon lunch meetings.

Cornish also is a strong believer that the types of fundraising events a club offers can be a key to luring new members. He's a perfect example, as it was the Naperville Lions' annual Turkey Trot that first exposed the club to Cornish.

“I was a runner and participating in the Turkey Trot, and decided to got to a Lions Club meeting, and I really liked the group because you check your ego at the door and there's not a lot of politicking,” said Cornish, who joined in 2007.

“It's just a real down-to-earth group of men and women, and we get an amazing amount of work and fundraising done with the members we have.”

Because of the size of the Elburn Lions Club and its place in community history, most of the major fundraising events in the community are offered by the club and enthusiastically embraced by residents.

“Our largest event is Elburn Days on our 26-acre park property and the parade through town in August,” Rotter said.

Among other events, the Elburn Lions can also point to Friday Night bingo games; “Ski for Sight” events in which vision-impaired people come together to play games or have a chance to drive as a passenger on a snowmobile; annual Easter egg hunts and various community dinners and educational presentations.

In it to serve

Lake Zurich Lions Club publicity Chairman Bruce Schmidt said that despite the longevity of his club (chartered in 1939), its nearly 100 members and the numerous events it sponsors, the Lions remain a mystery to some.

“There are people who want to be Lions, but they don't know who we are or what we do,” Schmidt said. “They think it is a party organization, but we want workers and those who understand the international motto of, ‘We Serve.'

“Our members are getting older and we don't get the younger people like we used to,” Schmidt continued. “It is hard to get quality members who are in it for the long haul, because many come and go now.”

The Lake Zurich Lions hold a membership drive dinner each February in which the community is invited to attend and learn about the club and its mission of helping the vision- and hearing-impaired.

“With the economy being down, it seems that flea markets are a good fundraiser,” Schmidt said. “But we have a holiday bazaar, a car show and other fests. We do a lot of work, and it's a big club, so we take on big projects, but you have to play on the economy as well.”

With that kind of commitment, Lions everywhere stick to the mantra that they are in the club to serve, not to promote themselves or their businesses.

“These people are here to serve, not to find new business opportunities,” Cornish said of the mindset in Naperville. “But they also understand there is a benefit to be part of an organization like this, and there are vending opportunities and such, and they get their name out there, but mostly it's about supporting our causes.”

In Lake Zurich, Schmidt said the club loves to see consistency in membership — even if it takes the form of three generations of the same family.

“We recently had our first third generation in the club with the Kuba family,” Schmidt said. “George Kuba has since passed away, but we have had George, his son Scott and grandson Ryan, in the club.”

Each community has numerous service clubs seeking members, and those who are really motivated by volunteering can end up in a few different clubs at the same time, Schmidt said.

In the end, a Lions Club member, or a member of any service club, has to understand the reward of helping others.

Rotter said his role as president of the Elburn Lions calls for a higher commitment level and organizational skills, which he is utilizing now because his club is sponsoring a current push to establish a new Lions Club in St. Charles.

But the end result and reward is the same.

“I like working with people and it is so rewarding to see your efforts turned into eyeglasses or hearing aids for those in need, or a leader dog or companion dog that helps to change someone else's life completely,” Rotter said.

<b>About the Lions</b>

According to the Lions Club International website, “Whenever a Lions Club gets together, problems get smaller. And communities get better.

That's because we help where help is needed — in our own communities and around the world — with unmatched integrity and energy.”

According to the Lions, it has 1.35 million members in 45,000 clubs in 206 countries and geographical areas, making it the largest service organization in the world.

LCI is based in Oak Brook at 300 W. 22nd St. For more information on a club near you, go to lionsclubs.org.