Helen Keller died 40 years ago this month, June 1, 1968

The Lion's Club has had an association with Helen Keller since 1925, when she challenged the Lion's convention to be Knights of the Blind.

That challenge has given the Lion's Club International our main mission. To fight blindness in the world.

Red Bank Tennessee Lion's Club recently provided the facilities for our zone's annual indoctrination of new club officers. Our local Zone 5 is part of one of the 5 regions in Tennessee.

Since 1925 the Lions Clubs have taken a lead in the fight against blindness. Our efforts impact lives locally and worldwide, taking on the challenge of Helen Keller.

Helen Keller was such a powerful figure, heroic and inspiring. Mark Twain compared her to Caesar and Shakespeare, and predicted she would "be as famous a thousand years from now as she is today."

Knowledge of Helen Keller has dwindled over recent years as her writing has become less a staple on middle and high school required reading lists.

She was an activist, and inspired many with her story of overcoming deafness and blindness to obtain a bachelor's degree, to master 5 languages in Braille, and to become a world renown spokeswoman for peace.

She had a long career as a lecturer and activist.

She died 40 years ago this month.

As awareness of her life and career has dwindled, so has participation in community service organizations.

Read about Helen Keller starting with her birthplace: http://www.helenkellerbirthplace.org/index.html

Read up on Lions Clubs http://www.lionsclubs.org/EN/content/about_index.shtml.

The website for our district Lions Clubs is http://www.tennesseelions.com/index707.htm.

Consider joining your local Lions Club.

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