District Governor Message

Glenn Garalde

International President’s Theme: Make Your Mark “Everywhere we serve, every time we give, we bring kindness and compassion, change, and hope. This perfectly sums up our upcoming year of service to our community. We, as Lions, shape our future!”

District Overview:
• My year as District Governor for District C2 began with challenges, particularly with many incumbent officers not responding to my requests for their continuance in their positions. As of now, I have at least two chair positions and three Zone Chair vacancies. I’m actively seeking talented and dedicated Lions members to fill these roles by the end of August 2024.

Recent Activities:
• Our first official visit commenced overseas with an Eye Clinic mission in Rizal, Metro Manila, Philippines with Rizal Traders Lions Club at the helm, followed with district and club twinning agreement with District 301-D2, Philippines and Rizal Traders Lions Club twinning agreement with Calgary Westwind Lions Club respectively. We concluded the day with the first board of directors meeting of Quezon City Cubao Lions Club in Quezon City, Philippines.

District Goals for the Year:

Establish two (2) new clubs
Recruit 200 new members
Achieve a net gain of 30 members

We are on track to meet our goals and objectives under Mission 1.5, aiming to reach 1.5 million Lions members worldwide by July 1, 2027. As of June 2024, we’ve achieved a net growth of 62 members. However, July 2024 numbers are still unavailable due to missing membership details in the new Salesforce system. We are actively communicating with clubs via phone and email to complete these details and are updating our district directory, which we hope to deliver by the first week of September 2024.

Training and Development:
• Planning for Zone Chair and club officer training has started with a new action plan for this year. We are organizing five mini-trainings across Alberta, focusing mainly on rural areas. We hope this change will help us surpass our leadership development training goal of 80%.

Team Collaboration:
• We have a strong GAT team this year, composed mainly of PDGs and aspiring future DGs. I’m pleased to see great collaboration within the team as they share their visions for the district and work to improve our services.

C2 Convention:
Plans for the C2 convention are progressing well. The final registration form will be available soon on the C2 website, lionsofdistrictc2.com. The theme for the convention, Lions: Multiculturalism at its Best!, embodies the essence of multiculturalism, showcasing how we embrace and celebrate diversity within our organization. Our international guest will be PID Ron Keller from Millersport, Ohio, USA. The service project team will be collecting hygiene products to assemble hygiene kits for The Mustard Seed.

Partnerships and Support:
In partnership with the Lions of Alberta Foundation, Lions of C2 can now help the victims of the Jasper Fire. We will be sending out emails in support of our friends in C1 Lions.

My Personal Theme: Service Knows No Boundaries “We, as Lions, are here to serve for the betterment of our community and the world without expecting anything in return. Life is a gift that we must share.”