The Post Card Project is a Project started by the Lions On Line Lions Club (LOL LC). The Project was discussed and voted as a LOL LC project in March 1999.

The co-ordinator and chairman of the project is Lion Bob Stanley of the LionsOnLine Lions Club and a Member of the Lions Club of Exeter, MD105SW.

The project was originally for the members of LOL LC, but has expanded and is now for all Lions who are on the Internet.

All communication to and from the co-ordinator is through the medium of the Internet.

The E-mail address is A10RWS@aol.com The Subject must be “Postcards”

The Project is listed in a simple form for clarity.

1. Lions around the world are asked to forward names and addresses to Lion Bob, of very sick, and usually terminally ill children, providing that the parents or guardians have given permission.

2. The name and address is added to the list of sick children, and then despatched to all the Lions on the distribution list of LionWap.org which includes all the Lions who are members of LOL LC. In addition, there is a contact list of interested Lions who support the Project, but are not on the LionWap.org list. This includes Liaison Lions for Clubs, Zones and Districts.

3. Individual Lions, Lionesses and Leos are asked to send a Picture Post Card of any locality, to the child, with some form of wording, if any, about the picture. -- "Get Well Cards" are discouraged for obvious reasons.

4. At present, the distribution is only in the English, Italian and Spanish languages.

5. Names and addresses are only accepted through Lion members, who can be verified as Lions in Good Standing. These are referred to as Sponsoring Lions.

6. Children with a short prognosis (under a month to live) are not accepted. It is not thought desirable that immediate bereaved parents should start to receive cards addressed to the child, probably within days of the bereavement. To that end, the Sponsoring Lion must maintain contact with the family involved, so that the co-ordinator can be kept informed of any sudden deterioration in the child's health.

7. The list of names and addresses must NOT be published on Bulletin Boards, or any place that is open to the public. This is to prevent unscrupulous, or corrupt individuals sending undesirable material to the families.

8. The end object is for each child to have a continuous series of postcards from all over the world. Each card from a different Lion. This should engender an interest in geography, and also provide a series of postage stamps which may also be of interest. This being achieved by new Lions always joining in the fun of sending cards.

Lions are encouraged to send a card to every child on the list - one a week - the average list of names is 50 (so that's approx. one a year.) Then start the list again!!!!

9. It has been found that the most benefit achieved by this project, is by the families of the sick children. There is a tendency for parents of terminally ill children, to turn inwards, and concentrate all their devotion to the sick child to the exclusion of all others. This leads to a sense of isolation within the family group. The fact that cards are received from all around the world seems to help the parents and family to realise that they are not alone.