SAN PEDRO LIONS CLUB -- 82 YEARS OF COMMITMENT <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> January 20, 2005 Calendar January 20th - No Noon Meeting. January 20th - 6:00 pm - Community Recognition. Simon's Restaurant, 1050 Nagoya Way, Ports O' Call Village, San Pedro, CA 90731. January 22nd - 9:00 am - Pancake Breakfast and Mobile Screening. Beacon House, 1003 S. Beacon St., San Pedro, CA 90731. January 27th - 6:30 pm - Tri Club meeting with the Harbor City/Lomita and Wilmington Lions Clubs. 6:30 pm Social. 7:00 pm dinner. Ante's Restaurant, 729 South Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731. February 3rd - 12:10 pm - Regular meeting. Ante's Restaurant, 729 South Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731. February 10th - 7:00 pm - Board Meeting. - Location TBA. February 17th - 12:10 pm - Regular meeting. Ante's Restaurant, 729 South Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731. Community Recognition The Community Recognition Dinner has been moved to Simon's Restaurant, 1050 Nagoya Way, Ports O' Call Village, San Pedro, CA 90731. The dinner will be held on Thursday, January 20th at 6:00 pm. Please be sure to mark your calendar and attend this great annual ceremony and dinner. Tickets are $35.00. Mary Ann Cyphers will receive the Ante Perkov Humanitarian of the Year 2005 award. The Junior Humanitarian is Deborah Ruiz. Lion Julie Nicosia, Chairperson of the Community Recognition Dinner, has been working hard to put together this event. Please call Lion Annette Ciketic at 310-832-0815 for reservations. Please make sure you attend this year's Community Recognition Dinner Celebration. Lion Gojko Spralja Lion Gojko Spralja has been reelected President of the Dalmatian-American Club of San Pedro. He would like as many Lions as possible to attend this year's Installation Dinner on Saturday, January 22nd at the Dalmatian-American Club, 1639 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro, CA 90731. There is a social hour starting at 6:00 pm. Dinner is at 7:00 pm. Please call Lion Gojko at 310-831-9306 for tickets and information. Lets all attend and show our support for Gojko! LCIF Tsunami Relief Lions Clubs International has established a new web site devoted to responding to the tsunami disaster in South Asia. The new web site is entitled "Relief, Recovery and Rebuilding: LCIF Lions and the Tsunami Disaster". The web site URL is http://www.lions-tsunami.org . The following is a 01/17/05 update from the new LCIF web site. "Dear Fellow Lions, The South Asian tsunami is considered the largest natural disaster in modern history. LCIF and Lions are responding accordingly. I am pleased to tell you that LCIF is initially committing US$5 million to assist in the recovery. The funds will enable Lions in South Asia to rebuild homes, schools and child welfare centers for orphans. The second piece of important news is that until March 31 donations to LCIF for tsunami relief are eligible for Melvin Jones Fellowship recognition. To encourage donations, the LCIF board of trustees has made an exception to its policy that does not allow MJF recognition for designated donations. The donation must be made for tsunami relief between Dec. 26, 2004, and March 31, 2005. LCIF is mobilizing tremendous financial support for recovery for South Asia. To date, LCIF has awarded US$220,000 in emergency grants and a US$250,000 major catastrophe grant. To date, LCIF has received more than US$630,000 in donations from Lions. This includes US$200,00 from the Lions of Korea and US$120,000 from the Lions of Sweden. The Lions of Japan will make a major donation and the Lions of Ireland expect to contribute US$460,000. The shock and horror of the tsunami disaster will remain with us for a very, very long time. But Lions are doing all they can to help victims and get communities back on their feet. I humbly thank you for your service and compassion. Sincerely, Dr. Tae-Sup Lee, LCIF Chairperson What are Lions doing to help tsunami victims? Several thousand local Lions have provided immediate relief aid such as food, water and clothing from the west coast of India to Thailand and south to Indonesia. Local Lions in hundreds of places have volunteered at the affected areas, helping to organize relief and ensuring that people get vital relief supplies. The service of Lions is enabling communities to take care of their children, elderly, those with disabilities and other especially vulnerable people. Lions in South Asia already have spent an estimated $820,000 on relief, including $220,000 in emergency grants sent to them by LCIF. LCIF is mobilizing tremendous financial support for recovery for South Asia. To date, LCIF has received more than US$630,000 in donations from Lions. This includes US$200,00 from the Lions of Korea and US$120,000 from the Lions of Sweden. The Lions of Japan will make a major donation and the Lions of Ireland expect to contribute US$460,000. Lions from nearby nations and other nations also have sent volunteer workers to the affected areas. The Taiwan Lions, for example, sent a medical team to Sri Lanka. Many clubs and districts, particularly those with prior relationships with Lions in South Asia, collected relief supplies and organized shipments. The Lions Club of Port Louis, Mauritius, which has been receiving corneas from a Lions' group in Sri Lanka, gathered US$300,000 worth of food from the public and arranged for free shipping to Sri Lanka. "Lionism is service and love, so let's not only dream of love let share it," Eric Quenette of the Port Louis Lions Club wrote in an e-mail to LCIF.