Thousands of families throughout Ireland will receive Christmas Hampers this year following a series of Food Appeals held by Lions Clubs throughout Ireland.
‘Every cent and every food item we collect will go directly to the beneficiaries because we incur no administration or salary costs’, says Liam Lyons, Lions District Governor in Ireland.
 
He said that the 113 Lions Clubs in Ireland have no professional administration and incurs no management costs.
 
‘All our members, including the District Officers, are volunteers and the administration costs of all clubs are funded by our members. This means that every cent we collect can go directly to the causes which we support.’
 
In addition to the Food Appeal, Lions in Ireland runs a series of national and local projects. National projects include a Suicide Awareness and Prevention Programme, a range of Youth Services, an Alcohol Awareness Programme for schools, Carers Weekends, a Holiday Week in Trabolgan, Co. Cork, support for Homeless Street Children, Intel/Lions Ideation Camps, Diabetic Screening, Medic Alert, ‘Message in a Bottle’ and Spectacle Recycling. Individual clubs run hundreds of local projects, many of which support local charities. Lions Clubs in Ireland also contribute to major international projects such as ‘Sight First’ and emergency relief in areas hit by natural disasters.
 
Lions Clubs International was founded in the United States in 1917 and is the largest Humanitarian, Voluntary Organisation comprising of 1.4 million members with over 46,000 Clubs in 208 Countries. Since 1968 Lions Clubs International Foundation has awarded more than $ 800 million in grants, to support humanitarian projects throughout the world.
 
In 2007 it was designated the No 1 Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) and remains so to this day.