Mesa Host Lions Club

on the people locally that are less fortunate than the members. Some of these local projects are:

Lions Camp Tatiyee, in the White Mountains providing a camping experience for challenged individuals, at absolutely no cost to their families. Eye glasses for needy Mesa School children and/or adults. Leader Dogs for the Blind. Christmas Baskets, providing food baskets for disadvantaged Mesa families along with Christmas shopping trips providing toys for these families. Arizona Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation to help people affected with sight & hearing impairments. ALONG WITH MANY OTHER CHARITABLE PROJECTS. We hope you enjoy your time on our web site. Feel free to contact any one mentioned within for further information & please consider joining us in our goal to serve the less fortunate while having fun doing it. Melvin Jones was born on January 13, 1879 in Fort Thomas, Arizona, the son of a United States Army captain who commanded a troop of scouts. Later, his father was transferred and the family moved east. As a young man, Melvin Jones made his home in Chicago, Illinois, He soon joined the Business Circle, a businessmen’s luncheon group, and was shortly elected secretary. This group was one of many at that time devoted solely to promoting the financial interests of their membership. Because of their limited appeal, they were destined to disappear. Melvin Jones, however, had other plans.

“What if these men,” he asked, “who are successful because of their drive, intelligence and ambition, were to put their talents to work improving their communities?” Thus, at his invitation, delegates from men’s clubs met in Chicago to lay the groundwork for such an organization and on June 7, 1917, Lions Clubs International was born. The association’s founder was also recognized as a leader by those outside the association. One of his greatest honors was in 1945 when he represented Lions Clubs International as a consultant in San Francisco, California, at the organization of the United Nations. Melvin Jones, the man whose personal code – “You can’t get very far until you start doing something for somebody else” – became a guiding principle for public-spirited people the world over, died June 1, 1961 at 82 years of age. Early on in the history of Lions clubs, Lions were challenged by Helen Keller to become “Knights of the Blind”. Although local Lions clubs all over the world try to find the best ways to serve their local communities, the elimination of preventable blindness & services to enhance the lives of people with vision problems remain major focus of Lions International. On January 25, 1928, two Mesa business men George Anderson & Paul Bosworth along with 20 others meet in down town Mesa & chartered the Mesa Host Lions Club. Their first community project followed the International Lions guide lines to help the less fortunate in Mesa school’s get eye exams & glasses. This club continues that project today. Over the years this club has collected hundreds of thousands pairs of used glasses & hearing aid which are sorted & catalogued by the “Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation” of Arizona to restore these senses whenever possible through competent medical care. The club raises the necessary funds for its projects with various fund raising projects throughout the year.