Gov Rich Moy February 2026 For District 1A Lions & Leos

DISTRICT 1A GOVERNOR RICHARD MOY’S

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

February 2026

Good afternoon Servant Heroes!

Good afternoon, Servant Heroes!

Ihope you arealldoing well and are kicking off this second half of the Lions year with a GO LIONS GO!

Our excitement for service and recognizing all our efforts with that chant of celebration is paramount

to keeping our Lions Family engaged and supported.

Let’sdive into the month ofJanuary. Asadistrict we arestill trying to find our foothold on the amount of membership drops. Naturally with the second half dues given to clubs we recognize that there will be

drops which is a trend we want to put a stop to. I typed last month about the plan for Retention that is currently being rolled out to Region Chairs and Zone Chairs and is being given out to all clubs. As I’ve made my visits I have spoken about this initiative and how important it is that we all work together to not just improve our retention but also improve our communication with our members that may seem disengaged from their clubs. What we’re seeing is the drops are significantly coming from those members that have had an average membership of1-3 years. What this tells our family is that we’re not spending enough time engaging these new members and ensuring that they know they are valued and are getting what they were looking for when joining our family. Unless a member is expressing a specific concern for not returning that is outside of our control, then we should be very much identifying with them what those specifics are. Without spending more onmy soap box on this, you will see the plan if you haven’t already being implemented by our entire family of leadership. Taking careof our family

is the expectation of all of us, that’s what family does.

Now that we got the tough love out of the way, let’s talk about are amazing service that hadgone on in January. The month of January found us in another set of Weeks of Service that was so amazing. January Weeks of Service focused on Hunger. First Lady Lion Edith had a special service project for our district to join not just to cover requirements for a Club Excellence Award, but to bring together clubs and give them the opportunity to meet one another while serving. As you all know, Ifirmly talkabout how important it is that we have relationships with each other no matter what clubwe come from and this project certainly helped with that. Her project was called Meals from the Heart and we had many clubs through our entire district participate in cooking meals for families that were staying at the Ronald McDonald Houses at the Advocate Christ Hospital and the Hines, Loyola locations. We both split our time between both locations, andI’lltellyou thatseeing our clubs come together for a

common goal wasa true sight to be seen. On behalf of the First Lady Edith,Iwantto thankallofourclubs thatspenttime tofixmealsforthese families as well as all of our clubs that made monetary donations as well as wish list donations to these houses. The staff at RMH were over the moon for our two weekends of dedication of service as well as the donations. I am happy to let you all know that we will be presenting RMH with a check on February 9th as well as more wish list donations as a final icing on the cake from us all.

Icango onandonbut Iknow asyou read this you’re probably already asking when does Governor Richard stop typing. lol. As always this is important. I want to congratulate and thank our additional clubs that blew the doors off the weeks of service with their own projects. I seen many clubs participate in Feeding My Starving Children as well as doing projects overseas and represented our district in such a memorable way. We also had four clubs come together for the first time and work alongside one another to package food for the

Westchester Food Pantry. This synergy is what our Lions family is all about.

I want to congratulate First Vice District Governor Ben Zoleta on his Mid year Forum. You did an amazing job at bringing our family together for a morning of great information. I also want to thank GLT/PCC Gail Anton for assisting with the entire presentation. Your FUN filled exercise “Areyou Smarter than a PDG”, was a huge hit.

Convention Season is HERE!! I want to encourage all our family to attend as many of the conventions in our MD1 that you can.Oneof the best experiences I have ever had was spending time attending other districts and their conventions and meeting my brothers and sisters. I encourage you toget to know these Lions. There is a wealth of love and experience amongst our family, those experiences hold a tremendous amount of value.

Important District 1A Dates:

Remind a Lion how important they are: Everyday

Governor Richard Vacation: TBD

Cabinet Meeting: Saturday, February 14th

District 1A Bowling: Sunday, February 28th

LIONS!!!

Always remember, we area FAMILY, and being a FAMILY is how we

Our mission

Our mission is to empower Lions clubs, volunteers and partners to improve health and wellbeing, strengthen communities, and support those in need through humanitarian service and grants that impact lives globally, and encourage peace and international understanding.

Changing lives

since 1968

illuminate our organization and remind the world WHO WE ARE!

GO LIONS GO!!

Yours Always in Service, Richard A. Moy

VCC MD1 (Vice Council Chair)

District Governor 1AGO LIONS GO!!

Stories of service

Watch

Change a life

LCIF’s impact is measured by individual lives transformed through your support. Since 1968, LCIF grants have empowered Lions globally, creating profound change.

See how your generosity can make a difference, one life at a time.

Watch

Empowering youth across the globe

Over four decades, Lions Quest has transformed youth, expanded globally and formed key partnerships. See how Lions Quest’s 40-year journey has shaped young lives.

Watch Support after disaster

When wildfires ravaged Texas, LCIF provided grants, enabling Lions to deliver immediate relief, and we’re still supporting these efforts. See the powerful impact we’re making together.

Watch

Responding and rebuilding together

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When a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Hualien City, China Taiwan in April 2024, LCIF acted quickly to empower Lions on the ground. Lions delivered vital food, water and supplies to those affected by this crisis.

Ourpartners:

Collaborationis key. And we keep good company. LCIF works with leading organizations and companiesto amplify our service impact. Discover how our global partnerships make us stronger.

Mission 1.5

As stated on the international website “We’re on a mission to grow. And social media is one of the best tools we have for spreading our message, sharing success stories, and inspiring fellow Lions to join the drive to reach 1.5 million members worldwide. MISSION 1.5 starts with you. So, get active with other Lions on social media now! #MissionToGrow”

Let’s see what we can do to help reach Lions International’s1.5MM member goal! We can reach and exceed our goal if every lion adds one or more new members.

As a district, we need to continue improving work on retaining our members and getting new members. International A. P. Singh attended the Council of Governors Meeting on Saturday, September 27 and encouraged MD-1 Illinois to continue working hard to help achieve our Mission 1.5 Goals as outlined in the Table below. He is passionate about the need for us to continue increasing membership, so we can continue serving those in need.

As you can see, we are behind our membership goals and we all need to continue working hard to show the world that District 1 A, MD-1 Illinois and Constitutional Area 1 that we have what it takes. Thank you for all that hard work you do!

The easiest way to gain members is to have your club visible and provide service to those in need. Visibility will help your prospective member make an easy choice in accepting your invitation to join your club.

Overview of Mission 1.5

Mission 1.5, Lions International’s global membership growth initiative, set an ambitious target: to grow Lions Clubs International to 1.5 million members worldwide. The campaign focused on:

• Recruiting new members with passion and purpose.

• Strengthening club retention and engagement.

• Work to assist where needed to help clubs meet community needs or causes for service.

As GMT Coordinator, I will work closely with our district’s leadership, Global Action Team, and clubs to align our efforts with Mission 1.5. While we’ve made significant gains in awareness and training, our yearend membership data reveals key challenges particularly around retention and club vitality.

We have a goal to start three new clubs this year to fulfil our Mission 1.5 goal. So far, we have chartered one new club and are well on our way to getting two more clubs soon. However, our goal for membership is to have 375new members and currently at -24, we have a long way to go to achieve our District 1 A Mission 1.5 goal. I am confident we can get to our goal, please reach out to GAT if you feel you could use some help or ideas on getting new members into your clubs.

We will be happy to sit down with yourleadership team and help devise a plan to help your club and our district achieve great things.

Governor Richard Moy’s Newsletter

Four Clubs Sponsored 10 or more members so far this year, including Southland Cyber Lions Club that was newly chartered in October 2025. So far, we have had 32 clubs adding new members.

Let’s keep working to get new members in our clubs!

Members Listed by Sponsor

New Members by Club, Sponsor & Month

of Members

District 1 A Drops & Deaths

as of 01/31/2026

District 1-A lost 171 members so far this year with 24 clubs losing members. The top 2 reasons for the loss is due to Non-Attendance (36) and Non-Payment of Dues (59) for a total of 95 of those members. We need to work much harder on reducing losses in our district for the second half of the year.

The Table above gives us a view of Drops by each month of our first half of the year By Club and Reason for the drops. The number of drops in December are twice the number of the next highest month so far. We need to work on why we are losing so many members to Non-Attendance and Non-Payment of Dues

District 1 A Drops

The table above gives us a glimpse of Reason for Member Drops by average length of service and the number of drops. While the last four reasons are to a certain extent out of our control, the others need more attention from our district so we can try to keep more members being dropped, especially the top three reasons. Over fifty percent of our drops are for reasons that we need to explore the specific reason lions are leaving because of non-payment of dues, non-attendance at meetings or events and just resigning in good standing.

It is also alarming that these lions have between four to nine years of serving when we are losing them!

MD-1 Illinois Lions Membership

MD-1 Illinois Membership as of 01/31/2026

MD 1 Club Information

Cumulative Membership Summary Drilldown Report

of January 31, 2026

District MD-1 New Chartered Clubs

District 1A chartered a new club on 10/09/25 with 21 members. District 1 F chartered a new club on 12/02/25 with 27 members.

APP#610361

The Multiple District has a goal of 12 clubs for the year. So, MD-1

District MD-1 Cancelled Clubs 07/2025 – 01-2026

Our Multiple District lost 2 clubs that disbanded in August 2025, losing 26 members and three Clubs in December 2025 lost 14 additional members for a total of 31 members.

Tips for Improving Membership in Your Clubs

Here are 10 ways to jumpstart your club’s recruiting efforts.

This is taken from LCI’s Mission 1.5 Website resources:

1. Do a member satisfaction check.

Before going out to recruit, take a look inside. How’s your club doing? Are your members happy? Do you have a positive club culture? Happy members who enjoy being a Lion are more likely to successfully recruit friends, family and others to your club.

Tools for success: Membership Satisfaction Guide

2. Connect your club membership and marketing chairpersons. Does your club have a membership chairperson? How about a marketing chairperson? If not, you’ll want to fill these roles because marketing and membership growth go hand in hand. If you already have these chairpersons in place, make sure they’re working together to promote your club and recruit new members.

Tools for success: Marketing Matters webpage, Club Membership Chairperson webpage

3. Get social.

social media is one of the most powerful tools you have for recruiting members. The more you promote your club’s incredible work, the more visible you’ll be and the more opportunities you’ll have to connect with people looking to serve. So, use social media to invite people to join your club for a service project or attend one of your events, and be sure everyone in your club is sharing, tagging and reposting stories about your club. Is your clubs

Tools for success: Social Media Kit

4. Don't forget traditional media.

Social media isn’t the only way to get your club noticed. Local newspapers, magazines and newsletters are also great ways to promote your club. Make connections with your local media and other organizations and community groups to discover opportunities to get the word out.

Tools for success: Lions Press Center, Brand Advance Kit

5. Apply for the Lions International Marketing Award.

Marketing is critical for recruitment, but it’s also a fun way to collaborate with your club and be creative. So why not embrace a little friendly competition by taking your shot at global recognition and great prizes? Your club can apply for the Lions International Marketing Award by creating a

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marketing campaign focused on member recruitment. Gather your team, plan your marketing campaign, and go out and get some new members.

Tools for success: Lions International Marketing Award webpage, Marketing Matters webpage

6. Recruit while you serve.

One of the best ways to recruit is by doing what you do best serving. So invite people to serve with you and see what it’s like to be a Lion. Wear Lions-branded clothing to your service projects for visibility and bring promotional materials to hand out to people you meet while out in the community.

Tools for success: Brand Advance Kit, Lions Shop

7. Host a member recruitment event.

Service is our focus, but bonding and having a good time is also a big part of the Lion experience so don’t be afraid to show off that side to potential members! Consider hosting a member recruitment event that’s more of a social gathering. It could be a happy hour, picnic, ice cream social, game night or whatever works for your club. Promote the event on social media and encourage everyone in your club to invite at least five people.

Tools for success: Social Media Kit, Brand Advance Kit

8. Write and share your Lion stories.

Every Lion has a story to tell about their member experience. But is every Lion in your club ready to share theirs? Consider a club activity where everyone writes their story. It doesn’t have to be long — it can be as simple as jotting down why you joined or why you love being a Lion. Once your stories are ready, find creative ways to share them on social media or your club’s website. Or, simply use them while talking with prospective members.

Tools for success: Lions Get Social webinar, Lions Blog

9. Make connections in your community.

It's not always what you know, but who you know. Consider ways you can expand your network, like meeting local business owners or getting involved in community events. Participate in a golf outing, volunteer at a hospital or school, or even attend another group’s pancake breakfast. The more you’re out and about, the more people you’ll meet so think of creative ways to make new connections. These connections just may become new partners, supporters or even new members.

Tools for success: Developing Local Partnerships

10.Just Ask!

There are lots of different ways to find new members. But at the end of the day, one of the easiest

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and most effective ways to recruit is to simply ask people to join. Imagine if every Lion brought one new member to your club think of how many more people you could serve. All it takes is asking one family member, friend or neighbor.

Tools for success: Just Ask Guide

Take some time to look over some of the resources we have available to us that will help us serve more of our friends in need!

Application for Membership

An application for membership can be downloaded using the link shown below. It is a fillable pdf file that can be either printed to be given to prospective new members or sent electronically for a new member to fill-in online and email back to you.

The file can be accessed using the following link: https://www.lionsclubs.org/resources/79863797

Pre-printed Applications are available from Lions International. If your club would like some assistance with getting new members or updating your social media platforms, please to not hesitate to reach out for assistance

Going Forward

A detailed program to help revive/reinvigorate clubs struggling is available to all clubs willing to commit to evaluating and attempting to improve those clubs with retention issues and attracting new members. The program attempts to evaluate the current clubs, mission, demographics, opportunities and impediments in its path to improving the club. We also have a rejuvenation plan utilizing Asset Based Community Planning as discussed at the last Growth Workshop Series held recently.

We would like to help any club in our district by scheduling a meeting to discuss how we might be able to help your club. Our GAT team would love to help you out.

Respectfully Submitted,

Tom Elsey

District 1A Global Membership Team (GMT) Chairperson thomas.elsey@gmail.com

Governor Richard Moy’s Newsletter

Hello, District 1-A Lions, Greetings from the VOICES team, the Charitable Arm of District 1-A.

The VOICES team continued to be busy during the month of January.

We are gearing up for the Presidents Rafflewhich will beheld from February 12th thru the 22nd . The drawing will be held on Facebook Live every day at 2PM. We still have a few tickets left, please reach out to your VOICES Directors if you want any tickets. There will be 1 winning ticket drawn per day for $200.00 and the ticket will be put back in the drum for future drawings. On February 12th and 22nd there will be 2 winning tickets pulled for $200.00 each.

worked diligently on updating our vetting process for hearing aids. I want to thank the team for their participation in this process. It was a great training exercise for all of us. There are currently 9 open requests for hearing aids which are in different steps of the process.

Our next project is to develop a process for eyeglasses for those clientsthatlive intheopen areasof our District. I’m currently working with LIF (Lions of Illinois) to develop aplanandpricing. Wewill need at the minimum 2 locations to send our clients (1 North & 1 South). I will provide further status as we work through this process.

The “Can you Hear Me Now?” fundraiser was launched in midSeptember. Our goal is to raise $7,500. Currently, we havereached 80% of our goal. Wearegetting so close to our goal. Please help us reach our goal, so we cancontinue helping those in need.

Children’s Vision Testing - If you have a pre-school or a church group in your area that would like to havechildren’s eyes screened or

This past month the VOICES team

hearing test for adults just contact Lion Marlene Chaney at marchaney@sbcglobal.net andshe will set the wheels in motion. We can screen children between the ages of 6 months to six years and give hearing tests to anyone over 10 years of age. All free of charge.

Let’s not forget our “Run for the Roses” fundraiser which will take place May 2, 2026, at Bourbon Street which is in Marionette Park.

Stay warm andremember Spring is right around the corner.

PCC Gail Anton President –VOICES

District 1A Albums:

January 9 ,2026 Bellwood Lions club Volunteer at Feed My starving

children in Schaumburg.

Bellwood Lions Club and The Village of Berkeley Holiday Food Drive Collection for Westchester Food Pantry. We collected 770 lbs. of canned goods from the residence of Berkeley.

Windy CityLions serveddinnerto young people at The Night Ministry cribforunhousedyouth! #WeServe #fightinghunger

Windy City Lions aregratefulfor the opportunity to serve 350 families alongside 4 other Lions Clubs at the Westchester Food Pantry.Thepantryserves6towns in the west suburbs and Lions made sure the families hadfresh produce for the holidays. This is oneway weadress hunger,make

Stickney-Forest View Lions Club: And here is our submission for the Lions Clubs International Weeks of Service Video Showcase. Selected videos will be featured in a global Week of Service Video Showcase a celebration of the service, creativity, and commitment thatdefines our Lions and Leos.

District1A Mid-Year Leadership Forum held at Willow Springs Community Center.

Chicago Healthcare Alliance Lions donated canned goods and other food items during the 1A Forum.

TheWillowSpringsLionshadour Lions Club Meeting 1new member Lion Ronald 4 Melvin Jones Brian

Grantland, Bill Scott, Howard Larkin and Kristen Kois and Kritinajoioed the Willow Springs Lioness Lions Club.

WillowSprintsLionsClubaddeda new member Michael Garbas to the Willow Springs Lions Club. It was also our Christmas party.

WILLOW SPRINGS LIONS donations to both Pleasant Dale andTrinityLutherSchools,$1,000 each.

Hurricane Helene is currently impacting the southeastern coastline of the United States, particularly affecting Florida. Many homes have been damaged, and numerous families are displaced. In the face of this humanitarian crisis, we, as Lions, are prepared to step in and help. Your generous donation to LCIF enables us to continue our vital work in these challenging times. Please consider donating to our Disaster Relief Fund: bit.ly/3XFfxrP #LCIFLions

When the Desplaines River flooded our community, the Village of Forest View back in 2013. LCIF was there for us,