ABOUT OUR DISTRICT.

OUR STORY

Lions have been serving communities across this part of Ohio for more than a century.

Ohio’s first Lions Clubs were organized in 1920, including clubs in Toledo and Lima. As Lions grew across Ohio, district boundaries and names changed several times, but Lions throughout the area that is now District 13 OH1 continued serving their communities.

Vision service became an especially important part of that story. In 1923, Lions were among those involved in creating what became The Sight Center of Northwest Ohio. Two years later, at the 1925 Lions International Convention at Cedar Point, Helen Keller challenged Lions to become “Knights of the Blind.” Her challenge helped shape generations of Lions vision service.

Over the decades, Lions in our area have collected and recycled eyeglasses, provided vision screenings and eyeglasses, supported young people, fed neighbors, awarded scholarships, responded to disasters, improved parks and public spaces, and created projects based on the needs of individual communities. The Pandora eyeglass sorting center, established in 1983, became another important part of that tradition. District Lions worked together to assist flood victims in Allen, Hancock and Putnam counties in 2007, and have also assisted tornado victims. Lion Jerry Smith of Wauseon, Ohio was elected to the Lions Clubs International Board of Directors in 2009.

Today’s district grew from the statewide redistricting of Ohio Lions. The new structure was established in 2015, and District 13 OH1 began its first Lions year in 2016, bringing together clubs across northwest and west-central Ohio that had previously served primarily in Districts 13A and 13E.

The district name changed. The purpose did not. Local clubs continued doing what Lions here had done for generations: seeing needs, bringing people together and serving.