"A challenge won": Tommaso Di Napoli, Governor of District 108 Ya Lions International, concludes his social year

A challenge won, on many aspects of great association interest, that of Tommaso Di Napoli, Governor of District 108 Ya Lions International who on June 30, during a suggestive ceremony, passed the baton by handing over the District standard to Governor-elect Pino Naim. We met with Tommaso Di Napoli to take stock of his 2024-2025 social year in District 108 Ya Lions International.

Was the District's financial year just ended a positive one? I am very pleased with the results achieved in the recently concluded financial year. District 108 Ya, which encompasses Basilicata, Calabria, and Campania, has reached 142 clubs, making it the district with the largest number of clubs in the Italy Multiple District. It has implemented 2,850 activities and services across all traditional Lions thematic areas of operation, serving 317,000 people. Four new clubs have also been created. Valuable synergies have been created with institutions, organizations, and universities, particularly the University of Naples "Federico II."

A synergy you are particularly interested in? Among the many, all equally important, I'd like to mention one I've been working on since the very beginning and which has brought great satisfaction to the DG Team and myself: the cooperation with the Rotary Districts of Campania and Calabria, bringing together our respective service networks, with memoranda of understanding signed by me, as Governor of District 108 Ya, and by the 2021 Rotary Governors Antonio Brando and Maria Pia Porcino. This close collaboration has fostered the exchange of ideas, initiatives, and knowledge between members of the two service associations and has expanded the reach of beneficiaries across the region, with approximately 100 jointly developed services. At the Multiple District 108 Convention in Turin, this collaborative initiative between Lions and Rotary received considerable attention and positive recognition. Culture and education were two important elements in his social year… The promotion of culture as a moment of personal and social growth and the reaffirmation of the central role of training at all levels of activity in the Lions world were two fundamental elements in the social year in which I was Governor of District 108 Ya. Is the district organization well-structured? Have there been any changes or developments during your tenure? Lions Districts are organized into Clubs, Zones, and Precincts and perform numerous services in their core areas of interest. I must emphasize that all leaders at various levels have given their all to continually improve and expand our work, in keeping with our motto "we serve," serving the most vulnerable, local communities, those in need, and those with disabilities. An innovation, which had been adopted as an emergency measure during the Covid-19 pandemic, was the reuse of a "hybrid" communication method, with both in-person meetings in the meeting room and a larger number of remote participants who were able to connect and engage in dialogue. This approach was developed to bridge the gap between the various areas of a District as large as ours, allowing for maximum participation in meetings. We also wanted to provide the District structures with a manual of best practices to facilitate the organizational activities of the Clubs and make the ceremonial homogeneous, with the goal of having uniform behavior and homogeneous ceremonies in all clubs. The problem of Clubs with an excessively small number of members was addressed. The solution was found in the "merger" process, that is, combining synergies and merging two clubs to mutual satisfaction and safeguard. We managed to overcome this critical issue as well, breathing new life and energy into two undersized clubs in Naples, restoring them to a suitable membership base, revitalizing them and at the same time enabling greater commitment to serving the people in their communities.

How important is the training of aspiring members and members? As I mentioned, training is very important, and that's precisely why ample space has been devoted to training for citizens who aren't members but aspire to become one. To this end, an orientation project for aspiring members has been launched, which has been highly successful.

Another challenge won is the relationship with Leos… Yes, in this fiscal year the relationship with the Leo Clubs – the youth association of Lions International that brings together young people between the ages of 12 and 30 who volunteer their free time to carry out community service activities – has strengthened in a climate of mutual respect and ever-increasing collaboration. What do you hope for the future of the District? Certainly to continue the commitment that sees us daily protagonists in social issues and in support of communities and I am certain that Governor Pino Naim with whom I share, in addition to a close personal friendship, vision, passion and Lionistic commitment will lead our District to even more important results in the three regions and also at a multi-district level.