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 Dear Lion,
This month we celebrate Lions World Sight Day and
our commitment to saving sight around the world. This month I am also
happy to share with you a new health initiative.
I am sure you have heard of the deadly disease
measles. The terrible truth is that 450 children die each day from this
disease. You may not know that a devastating complication from this
disease is blindness. This is just another reason that as Lions we join
the fight to stop this disease to save lives and prevent childhood
blindness.
Last year we joined the Measles Initiative, a
collaborative effort of several leading organizations to eliminate
measles. In less than 10 years, this August, the 1 billionth child was
vaccinated through this initiative. While measles has been reduced by 78
percent since 2001, the World Health Organization estimates that
decreasing support could result in 500,000 more deaths each year if the
present progress rolls back to pre-2000 levels.
Our pilot year was a great success! Lions and our
partners vaccinated 41 million children in four countries. Now we must
expand these efforts to reach even more children in more countries. In a
survey of Lions members, 90 percent expressed the desire to continue this
program.
This is now possible thanks to a
commitment by our partner, the Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation is
awarding us US$5 million for the program this year, the largest single
donation in our history. The Gates Foundation will do this by matching
every US$2 that we raise with US$1. We have set a combined goal of
providing U$15 million toward this initiative.
I ask
that you encourage your club and district to get involved. Please help us
to meet our goal of providing US$15 million for the Lions' Measles
program this year. You can support this program at www.lcif.org/donate
or learn more online.
Your donation is MJF eligible.
Serving today for a better tomorrow,
Sid L. Scruggs, III
Chairperson, Lions Clubs International Foundation
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