Hello, Lions!

My name is Brian Cox, District Governor of Lions District 22W for 2016-2017. I've been in the field of Agriculture (no pun intended!) for many years. In my work as a Senior District Sales Manager for the Monsanto Company, I regularly visit farmers throughout my area (which inlcudes pretty much all of Lions District 22W), advising them on how to grow the best crops in the most economical and environmentally sound way possible. Although many new and technogically innovative products and tools have come along over the years to help our farmer neighbors succeed, one thing has never changed. It all starts with the seeds. All of the fancy fertilizers and equipment in the world won't produce a worthwhile harvest if you've planted low-quality seeds. This is also true of service to others. Fancy programs and catchy slogans have their place, but they won't produce the best results if we've started with inferior seeds.

So when we talk of Lions Clubs, what are those seeds? You've probably already guessed it. The Seeds of Service are Lions themselves.

The Lions' motto is "We Serve." It's not "Our Money Serves" or "Our Buildings Serve." The true value of Lions Clubs stems from our people. Our facilities and fundraisers are certainly important to achieving our goals of service; they are the soil and sunshine that help our projects thrive and bear fruit. But Lions are the necessary first ingredient. We are the seeds from which strong communities grow.

If you have questions or suggestions, or just have something to say about Lionism, I'd love to hear from you. Just drop me a line at BrianCox@TerraRubraLions.org.