A Brief History of Lions Club of Imphal

Lionism came to India in mid 1950s and the first Lions Club in India was opened in 1956 at Bombay (now Mumbai).  Slowly it spread to other parts of the country.
In 1968, two Lions leaders from Lions Club of Shillong came to Imphal with an agenda of opening a new Lions Club in Manipur. They could convince some prominent citizens and thus Lions Club of Imphal was officially inaugurated on 14th March, 1968 and on 22nd June 1968, the Club was formally chartered at the Conference Hall of Hotel Imphal (Old High Court) with the Charter Members headed by Lion Mahender Singh as Charter President.

About Our Founder Melvin Jones

Selfless service and sacrifice, devotion and dedication towards the cause of less fortunate, makes a man truly great One truly great man was our founder MELVIN JONES. Melvin Jones was born on January 13, 1879 at Fort Thomas Arizona, the son of an United States Army Captain who commanded a troop of scouts. Later, his father was transferred and the family moved east. As a young man, Jones made his home in Chicago, Illinois and associated himself with an insurance firm Jonhson & Higgins and in 1913 formed his own Melvin Jones Insurance Agency. He soon joined the Business Circle, a businessmen’s Luncheon group, and was shortly elected secretary. This group was one of many at that time devoted solely to promoting the financial interest of their members. Because of their limited appeal, they were destined to disappear. Melvin Jones, however, had other plans. “What if these men,” he asked, “Who are successful because of their drive, intelligence and ambition, were to put their talents to work improving their communities?” Thus, at his invitation, delegates from many clubs met at Chicago to lay the groundwork for such an organization and on June 7, 1917, Lions Clubs International was born. It was stipulated that clubs were not to be social in nature nor were members permitted to promote their own business interests.