History
The Leo story
A baseball coach in Pennsylvania gave his team a way to serve. Sixty-odd years later, Leadership, Experience and Opportunity is what the letters still stand for.
Leo Multiple District 306, Lions International
Inspiring Lives
5 December 1957
Abington, Pennsylvania
Jim Graver, a high school baseball coach and a member of the Glenside Lions Club, formed a service club with his team at Abington High School, helped by fellow Lion William Ernst. It was the first Leo club, and it took the school's colours — maroon and gold — with it.
Leadership · Experience · Opportunity
What the name carries
The middle word was Equality when the name was chosen, and became Experience later. The three still describe what a young person gets out of serving: the skills to lead, the practice of doing the work, and the doors that open afterwards.
October 1967
An official programme
The board of Lions Clubs International adopted the Leo Club Program, and what had been one club sponsored by one Lions club became the youth programme of the whole association.
Alpha & Omega
Two kinds of club
Alpha clubs are for younger Leos and run largely through schools; Omega clubs are for older Leos in universities and communities. Both charter through a sponsoring Lions club, and both plan and fund their own service.
Worldwide
Roughly 7,200 clubs
The programme has spread to approximately 150 countries and 7,200 clubs, with over 140,000 members. Leo clubs are open to young people of good character with an interest in serving their communities.
Today
Sri Lanka and the Maldives
Leo Multiple District 306 carries the programme across both countries. Its own history begins in 1969 in Wattala — see the origin timeline on the about page.
Where this leads
Every Leo club charters through a sponsoring Lions club, which is where this story starts. Lions Clubs International has been organizing service across borders since 1917.