The Lions Club of Sydney Chinese Inc is a member of Lions Clubs International, an international non profit community service organization, upholding a common motto “WE SERVE”. It has now been over 100 years since Melvin Jones established the first Lions club in USA in 1917. A typical Lions year begins on 1 July and ends on 30 June in the ensuing year.
Throughout the past decades, Sydney Chinese Lions while embracing and upholding the Lions' global motto "We Serve", they have also been building on their unique strength and refined their mission as "We serve our Community through raising and donating much needed funds via high profile activities."
Today, there are Lions clubs in 210 countries and geographical areas all over the world. In District 201N5, which covers the Sydney area and Norfolk Island, there are some 80 clubs with around 1,800 members. Amongst these, there are over 20 Chinese-based clubs. Sydney Chinese Lions is the first of these Chinese-based clubs chartered in April 1995.
On the Lions' emblem, there is a lion on each of the two sides, facing opposite directions - one looks back to the past with pride, and the other looks to the future with vision and hope. This emblem aptly describes the community work that is being done at the club. Ever since its charter, Sydney Chinese Lions has been well supported by the community including corporate entities and small businesses, as well as private individuals. Over the past 28 years, under the leadership of President PDG Dr Anthony Cheung OAM, Past Presidents Wendy Lin, Mei Cheng JP, Jason Zhang and other Past Presidents, in conjunction with the relentless effort of its members and, on top of all these, the generous donations and sponsorships received from the community, the club has raised and donated over $1 million to a number of charities including the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) Measles Initiative, St John Ambulance, the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, the Australian Red Cross, CareFlight, the Sir David Martin Foundation, the Fred Hollows Foundation, the Westmead and Concord Hospitals, the Australian Lions Children's Mobility (Hart Walker) Foundation and the Elderly Australian Chinese Homes. Thousands had reaped the benefits. The club is also mindful of encouraging young adults to participate in humanitarian services, hence, it has since 2003 been offering its humanitarian scholarships. In 2009, the club set up its Inaugural Sydney Chinese Lions Teal Ribbon Scholars Scheme to promote and facilitate experience sharing between medical doctors and medical personnel of the People's Republic of China and Australia.
Globally, membership of Lions is by invitation only. The club welcomes service minded individuals who share its ethics and objectives to join its rank and file.