Albert W. & Viola Brown Humanitarian Award Nomination Form

2024-25-AV-Brown-nomination

Send the Completed Form to the Following PDGs

History of the Albert W. & Viola Brown Humanitarian Award

To understand the history of this award, we must begin with why it is named after Albert and Viola Brown.

Albert was District Governor of Texas Lions District 2-E2 in 1972-73. He was a very active and generous Lion before he was DG and continued to be that same person for many years following. Albert was a member of the Denison Lions Club for over 50 years and was very active in all that it did. He was the original Treasurer of the USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum and served in that role for its first 17 years.

Albert was one of three candidates for International Director in the campaign that elected Mike Butler to represent Texas. He withdrew from the race in favor of Mike Butler. He was dedicated to the Texas Lions Camp, serving as its President in the early 1990s. He never hesitated to be generous with his time, energy, and financial resources to support Lions service projects—not just the Camp but also every project in which the district was involved. When Lions Clubs International Foundation began the original campaign SightFirst, Albert was asked to be the Area Coordinator for our area of Texas because of his known dedication and support.

Believing that you had to “put your money where your mouth is” and that you “never ask anyone to do something you were not willing to do yourself,” he and Viola donated over $125,000 to Campaign SightFirst. They were truly a team. Viola was a Lioness who became a Lion when the Denison Lioness Club converted in 1991-1992 and became the Denison Texoma Lions Club. She was the mother and homemaker of the family. But don’t think she was a quiet, never-give-her-opinion type of person. She was quiet—I never recall hearing her raise her voice about anything. But she could give Albert a piece of her mind if she did not agree with what he did. She was his supporter and his companion in all of his Lionistic involvement. That is why the award has both of their names on it.

In about 2001 or 2002, as Albert’s health began to decline, it was suggested to the District 2-E2 PDG/PCS Association that we should consider creating an annual Humanitarian Award to honor Albert and Viola. After consideration and discussion within the group, a committee was formed to survey the PDGs on what they thought should be the criteria for the award and other details. This took some time to fine-tune ideas and then fine-tune again after the group had thought about the details. One item on which all PDGs agreed was that PDGs would be excluded from consideration for the award. It was also agreed that service at the district level would be one of the criteria; therefore, five years of service at the district level is one of the requirements. Another agreement item was that the clubs be involved in candidates’ nominations and award presentations.

It was decided that the first award would be presented to the Lions whose names are on the award—Albert and Viola. The first award was presented to them at a luncheon that was coordinated by the clubs of the Denison Sherman area. That was in the 2003-2004 Lions year. In the years following, the award has been presented each year based on nominations from PDGs and clubs within our district. The PDGs have been continuing to fine-tune the details in our efforts to be sure that worthy Lions are nominated and recognized.