The Missoula Lions Club was organized on December 4, 1928, and chartered on January 4, 1929.
The the Missoula Lions Club can point proudly to its continuing record of commitment and service to the Missoula Community, to the Multiple District, District 37, and Lions Clubs International.
The annual Christmas tree sale, started by the late Harry Noel in 1944, has been, and still is, the most successful and largest fund raising project for the club. Noted historical projects have been: the building project of the Lions residence at 605 Evans which was raffled off in 1938; midget auto races in 1948; the Lions' sponsored Treasure State Charity Horse Show from 1948 until the early sixties; broom sales; mint sales; the Lions' concession trailer; an annual cherry sale; sponsoring the Ice Capade shows; and the Lions Share Banquet. All monies raised from Club projects are committed to charitable purposes.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Club flourished with over 150 active members. This large membership gave rise to the chartering of four new clubs in the Missoula area. Other clubs were also sponsored in neighboring communities. Individually Lions come from all walks of life-government agencies, education, medicine, law and business-just to name a few. They have given unselfishly of their time, talent, money and service to the community. Collectively, all of the Lions in the Missoula Club are bonded together, as one, to make the Missoula community a better place to live, work, and play.
Sight conservation and related projects are heavily emphasized. Buying eye glasses for adults and children in need, help with eye operations, diabetes awareness, Leader Dogs For The Blind, used eyeglasses and hearing aide collection, help for people with impaired vision, local organziations that assist the community and more, are all recipients of Lions' support. Missoula Lions Club continues to search for causes and needs in the community to show how "We Serve!"
Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organization with more than 1.4 million members in approximately 46,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas around the world.
