Welcome! Friday, March 29, 2024 | Login | Register
   
Exchange Club Of Shelby Celebrates Anniversary
Exchange Club of Shelby, NC
The National Exchange Club – a service organization with 700 clubs and over 22,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico – will begin celebrating its 100th anniversary throughout the month of March.  To celebrate its organization’s centennial milestone the Exchange Club of Shelby has donated 100 packs of crayons and 100 coloring books to the students at North Shelby.  Exchange will also mark its centennial anniversary with special celebrations during its annual national convention slated for July 6-9 in Detroit, MI.
Founded March 27, 1911 in Detroit, MI, by businessmen who wanted to “exchange” ideas, the Exchange Club moved its headquarters to Toledo, Ohio, in 1917.  For the past 100 years, its volunteer efforts have supported the needs of the country and local communities, making it the country’s oldest American service organization operating exclusively in the United States.
The Exchange of Shelby was chartered on July 1, 1972 with 38 members initiated into the club – six of those charter members continue to be active.  Originally, only men were eligible to join but in 1985 delegates voted to open membership to women. The focus of the Exchange Club of Shelby is to give members the opportunity to work with fellow Americans to make a positive difference in our community.
The local club looks for ways to contribute to Cleveland County and its needs; therefore, fundraising is a necessary part of the club’s activities.  The first major fundraising project of the Shelby club was the Sunshine Special.  It was a train trip through western North Carolina, from Marion, NC to Erwin, TN. Currently, the major fundraisers are the annual Peanut Sales (Club members can be found selling peanuts in their booth at the Cleveland County Fair.) and the semi-annual Exchange Club Barbeques (These are held in November and April.)  The money raised at these functions goes to:  support our ACE, Accepting the Challenge of Excellence, Award presented to selected high school seniors, help to finance the annual trip to Camp Earthshine for 23 North Shelby students and their teachers, support Child Abuse Prevention projects in our county, donate to the Boy Scouts of America, provide smoke detectors for seniors, and donate to other county agencies whenever possible.
Jim Hartley, executive vice president at the organizations’ headquarters said, “Many of our efforts promote ‘Americanism’ – the concept that our country plays a special role as a beacon of freedom, democracy, equality and inclusiveness.  We are always looking for new members to help promote these ideals to a new generation of Americans.”
“We are looking to increase public awareness of the work done by local clubs and members that comprise the National Exchange Club and help attract new members so we can continue to expand our ability to serve families, our communities and our great country for a second century of service,”  he said.
For more information about getting involved in the National Exchange Club, call 800-924-2643 or info@nationalexchangeclub.org.   to contact the local club, call President, Bobby Raines – 704-538-9436.

Printer-friendly format