August 2021

The month of July started with a bang and ended with a bang, with new Club development activities leading the way.

Optimist International’s expansion continued in Lebanon with the organization of 15 member Clubs in Taalabaya and in Rasm Al Hadeth. The sponsor Clubs are the Optimist Club of Brooklin, Ontario and the Optimist Club of Cornwall, Ontario. Eastern Ontario got into the act as well with the sponsorship of a 15-member Club in Tunisia.  The Club in Tunis is the first for Optimist International in the north African country.

Fast forward to the end of the month when there was a flurry of activity.

The Optimist Club 501 Belize became the second Club for the organization in the central American nation. 24 members are on board thanks to the efforts of the Trench Town Optimist Club and the Kingston-St Matthews Optimist Club both from Jamaica.

The Caribbean District also organized a new Club in Jamaica, thanks to the efforts of the Kingston-Harbour View and the Eastern Stars Optimist Clubs, which are sponsoring the 17 members of the Bull Bay Optimist Club.

It was about 18 months ago when Optimist International opened its first junior Optimist Club in the country of Sri Lanka.

Now there is an adult club to go along with it, as the Optimist Club of Colombo was organized at the end of July. Arosheny Puvanenthirarajah was the driving force behind the formation of the JOI Club and says they actually had to form an adult Club.  “None of us wanted to lose our affiliation with Optimist International", said Puvanenthirarajah. “So, we decided to form an adult Club among friends and those of us who are graduating this year”. The new adult Club is being sponsored by the Syndenham and District Optimist Club of Ontario.

Sandwiched between these new Club developments was a major celebration in the Middle East called Eid Al-Adha.

Optimist Clubs In Lebanon and Jordan were active during the observance. The Al Iklim Optimist Club of Lebanon sponsored a medicine giveaway program for people in the community.

Children's Theatre Program

The Golden Family Optimist Club of Amman, Jordan, held a children's theatre program for young ones and there was a carnival atmosphere provided by the Al Shabab Optimist Club in Baalbek, Lebanon at the conclusion of the Eid Al Adha observance.

Optimists in the Caribbean continued their efforts of service to the community as well.

The Fusion Optimist Club in Jamaica’s had its biggest project since it organized. A Health and Wellness Fair for grade six students of St. Richards Primary School allow them to have their High School Medical Exam done free of charge.  Optimist International wants to thank all of our Clubs overseas for the fantastic work they have been doing to improve the lives of others.

Administrative Corner

This is the time of year that Optimist Clubs throughout the world need to pay attention to their membership rosters.  It’s a time when efforts should be made to recruit new people to your Optimist Club and to remove those who no longer want to be connected to your Club from the membership roster.  This practice will prevent your club from being charged for inactive members when the new Optimist fiscal year begins on October 1, 2021. Keep up the great work you are doing and send us photos of your projects. Jim.boyd@optimist.org