Since 1921, Lions have been serving the state of Maryland. In the 1940s, District 22-A was created to serve as a part of a Multiple District. District 22-A is composed of 22 Lions Clubs with 500+ members, serving five counties (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Harford, and Howard) in the Central Maryland area.

Lions are known as "knights of the blind" focusing on programs and projects that serve the blind or visually impaired - or aim to eliminate preventable and reversible blindness. But we also participate in other health programs and projects.

Lions support local and large-scale efforts to control and prevent diabetes and diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of vision loss in adults of working age in industrialized countries.

Lions also focus on hearing, by arranging screenings, recreational camps and hearing aid recycling programs for children and adults.

And around the world, many Lions service projects have an impact on health. For example, Lions in the United Kingdom funded the first fully equipped ambulance for newborns in Bosnia and Herzegovina. And Lions in the Cayman Islands have worked to increase awareness and early detection of breast cancer.

Whenever a Lions club gets together, problems get smaller. And communities get better. That's because we help where help is needed - in our own communities and around the world - with unmatched integrity and energy.

Founded in June 1917 by Chicago business leader Melvin Jones who asked a simple and world-changing question to a group of fellow business men, the Business Circle, a businessmen's luncheon group - "what if people put their talents to work improving their communities?" Lions club members have volunteered their time and talents to meet needs wherever they exist. Lions are especially dedicated to serving the blind and visually impaired, a commitment made after Helen Keller challenged our members to become her "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness" on June 30, 1925 during the International convention held in Cedar Point, Ohio.

Now over 100 years later, Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organization, with more than 1.3 million members in more than 45,000 clubs and countless stories of Lions acting on the same simple idea: let's improve our communities. Lions Clubs International is not a fraternal, social or political organization - It is a group of men and women bonded together to do things that you and I cannot do as individuals.

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The motto of Lions Clubs International is "We Serve."