"Once I realised what they were doing, and how much fun they were having, I decided to join,' Mr Roney said.

Now 45 years later, Mr Roney has become a stalwart in the Lions International community and will now be recognised a Member of the Order (AM) as part of the Queen's Birthday celebrations.

"You don't join these organisations for accolades. People don't really understand what Lions do. They think we were sausage sizzlers all the time but that's far from what we really are," he said.

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Mr Roney joined the Riverside Lions Club in 1977 and would go on to be involved in a number of Lions Clubs holding various positions, including National Chairman of Lions International from 2004-2005 as well as becoming a life member.

Mr Roney said Lions International put their hearts and souls into projects and said SightFirst was a prominent example of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of funds being raised for the greater good.

SightFirst funds have enabled Lions, health care providers, and partner organisations around the world to fight the major causes of preventable and reversible blindness and assist those who are blind or visually impaired.

"That was a very rewarding project to be heavily involved in and I enjoyed it because we're making a difference.

"I think we trained over 3000 ophthalmologists and eye care workers and we were building clinics right throughout the world.

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"We've also got our own hearing dog school in South Australia, where we train hundreds of hearing dogs for people that need a dog. They can tell you if someone is at the door or if your phone is ringing," he said.

Being a member of Lions is not all sunshine and rainbows and in 2004, Mr Roney, along with other Lions members visited Banda Aceh, Indonesia after the Boxing Day Tsunami.

"We went up there because they were in our constitutional area, and in those countries there are well over 60,000 Lions there and they're generally the first people on the ground.

"We were given a letter from the President of Indonesia to go beyond the ends of the road because that was the respect he had for Lions.

"It was a traumatic trip. You learn a lot out of it. When we were touring, people were still pulling out bodies,".

"There are lots of memories there of things that will probably haunt you for the rest of your life.

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Upon greeting some of the locals, Mr Roney said that a villager had given him a microphone as they wanted to hear what he had to say.

"What can you do? Give them hope. That's all you can do," he said.

Mr Roney's list of accomplishments and achievements are too long to list. He said it was fantastic that he was awarded an AM as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours.

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"I think I've gotten five certificates of appreciation from international Presidents and these are all good things that happened along the way, but it's never been my motivation.

"A lot of people see things that you don't see yourself and they see things in you that you don't see.

"Without lions, rotary and volunteers for various projects I wonder where this world would be and it means a lot to me, because I've made a difference.

"I think if we can go through our life and make a difference, it would be a far better world than what we got today.

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