Lions Club International was founded in 1917 by Melvin Jones, an insurance agent from Chicago, who challenged a group of local independent business clubs to depart from purely commercial concerns and unite to form a service organization dedicated to providing betterment to their communities and the world at large. Melvin Jones, whose personal code, "You can't get very far until you start doing something for somebody else," became a guiding principle for public-spirited people the world over, died June 1, 1961, at 82 years of age.

    •     In 1925, at the Lions International Convention, Helen Keller challenged the Lions to become the "Knights of the Blind in the Fight Against Darkness." During that same year, under the guidance of the White Plains Lions Club, thirty-four outstanding members of the Mount Kisco community banded together to form the Lions Club of Mt. Kisco. The "Dispensation," or request for a Charter, is dated November 1925, when Lions International was only eight years old.

    •     Since there was no ambulance service in Mt. Kisco in 1925, this became the first and primary goal of the Mt. Kisco Lions Club. The first ambulance was a rented vehicle operated by the Lions. Since that time, numerous ambulances have been purchased and replaced, and most recently in 1996, a second ambulance was purchased at a cost (with equipment), of $110,000. While the Mt. Kisco Volunteer Ambulance Corps began operating independently of the Mt. Kisco Lions Club in 2000, the Lions continue to contribute to the Ambulance Corps.

Today, 75 years after our Club's founding, we continue the tradition of serving the needs of our community. We have accepted Helen Keller's challenge by sponsoring glaucoma clinics, collecting eyeglasses, supporting Guiding Eyes For The Blind and contributing to Lions International's "Sight First" program. Three years ago, we purchased an $80,000 ophthalmologic microscope for the Northern Westchester Hospital Center with the aid of surrounding clubs and grants from both Lions International Foundation and the New York State Lions Foundation.

Also, we continue to expand our outreach to other areas in the community. When our senior community was harmed and businesses were destroyed by Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999, the Lions provided financial assistance.

The Mt. Kisco Lions Club, working in partnership with a generous Mt. Kisco community, continues to symbolize the ideals of Lions International founder, Melvin Jones, and the vision of our founding members in 1925.