Kindness Matters Service Award
This prestigious award is given annually to a handful of Lions and Leo clubs for performing an outstanding service project in any of our global causes. Nominated at the club level, the Kindness Matters Service Award is a challenge for Lions and Leos to develop exceptionally innovative and creative service projects with the aim of leaving a positive impact in their communities.
Award eligibility
Approximately 30 service project nominations will be awarded at the club level, with a minimum of three awards reserved for Leo clubs. Eligible nominations must:
- Remain in active status
- Report their project from the previous Lion year in the Lion Portal by July 31
- Not have received the award within the previous three Lion years
Criteria
Award consideration will be given to clubs performing service that:
- Addresses at least one of the Lions International global causes: childhood cancer, diabetes, disaster relief, environment, humanitarian, hunger, vision or youth
- Demonstrates creativity and innovation
- Achieves impact of scale and long-term sustainability
- Uses Lions International’s values to shape positive experiences and create engagement and connection with the Lions brand — this is also known as “elevating the Lions brand”
Nomination timeline
Nominations happen in a particular order, starting with local Lions, then club service chairpersons and Leo club presidents, to the global service team at the district and multiple district level and then finally Lions International by October 31. The following timeline is a recommended guide for each step of the process for submitting a nomination to Lions International.
Club
- July 31: Clubs are to report their service projects from the previous Lion year in the Lion Portal by July 31
- July 1 - August 1: August: Lions nominate service projects at the club level.
District
- August 1 – September 1: The District Global Service Team (D GST) coordinator selects one Lion service project and/or one Leo service project from their district to move forward.
Multiple district
- September 1 – October 1: The Multiple District Global Service Team (MD GST) coordinator selects a single Lion service project and/or a single Leo service project from their multiple district.
- October 1 – October 31: The MD GST coordinator emails the signed nomination to Lions International at [email protected] from their email address listed in the Lion Portal. Nominations are due October 31.
Winning clubs will be selected by the Lions International Board of Directors Service Activities Committee and notified in January. Winning clubs receive their award from Lions International in March.
Please note that all nominations should be emailed to [email protected] after they’ve been endorsed and signed by the appropriate positions. Lions International will not accept physical applications.
Check out the program guidelines and nomination form to learn more about what is expected of clubs and GST Coordinators throughout the nomination process. It is highly encouraged that this document is read before submitting a nomination!
Plan and report projects
To be considered for this award, planning and reporting projects is key! Use the resources below to help you succeed.
Report your service
Learn about the importance of reporting service projects and discover how to report your service with ease.
The service toolkit
Access a variety of resources specifically designed to help clubs carry out effective, high-impact service projects.
Service project planners
Discover over 20 detailed service project planners, outlining ways clubs can effectively serve in any of our global causes.
