The National Exchange Club – a service organization with 700 clubs and more than 21,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico – celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011. Founded in 1911 in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, by businessmen who wanted to “exchange” ideas on making their community better, the Exchange Club moved its headquarters to Toledo in 1917. The name "Exchange" was suggested by Charles A. Berkey, the founder who was also a 33° Mason. For a hundred years, Exchange Club volunteer efforts have supported the needs of the country and of local communities, making it the country's oldest American service organization operating exclusively in the United States. Its second oldest club is the Exchange Club in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, formed in 1913.

Service projects and programs

During the 1940s, Exchange had organized its club activities around seven areas of service that included: education; agriculture; aviation; citizenship; commerce and industry; federal youth rehabilitation; youth and geriatrics. In the mid-1960s, Exchange adopted its present National Programs of Service activities. The National Programs of Service brought into greater focus the most pressing issues of the day and affords local clubs the ability to structure activities according to their specific community. In 1979, Exchange adopted the Prevention of Child Abuse as its national project, today Exchange's programs include three Programs of Service: Americanism, Youth Programs, and Community Service and its National Project—the prevention of child abuse. To help uphold Exchange's Mission of inspiring communities to become better places to live, we have partnered with Veterans Matter, another national nonprofit. Veterans Matter is solely dedicated to providing deposits/first month's rents for ready, waiting veterans who can use can use

HUD-VASH Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 (), often called Section 8, as repeatedly amended, authorizes the payment of rental housing assistance to private landlords on behalf of low-income households in the United States. Fort Lauderdale, Florida Ho ...

vouchers to cross the threshold into safe, permanent housing. Veterans Matter has a 100% success rate in getting veterans housed in a government program that has a 91% success rate in keeping veterans housed.

Youth and senior services

The Exchange Club specializes in helping

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

and service to

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

s. The Senior Outreach Program, adopted in the 1980s as a national program, helps senior citizens remain active. For youth, the Exchange Club gives

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarshi ...

and

awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award ...

such as the ''Accepting the Challenge of Excellence (ACE) Award'', ''Youth of the Month'', ''Youth of the Year'', and ''Citizenship Award''. A "Junior Exchange Club" is offered to high school students, called the Excel Club, volunteering the same amount of work as the National Exchange Club.

Awards and honors

The Exchange Club support Teacher Appreciation Day to honor teachers educating youth. The ''Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award'' honors a member in law enforcement that has given credit to protecting a community. The Exchange Club also gives out ''Rookie of the Year'' and ''Exchangite of the Year'' awards to members that succeed in doing a substantial amount of work and contributions for the club. The Exchange Club's most prestigious award is the ''Book of Golden Deeds Award'' given to a special person that has dedicated their time and efforts to strengthen their

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

. This award may be given to a member of Exchange or a non-member. National A.C.E. Of The Year Award Recipients Youth Of The Year Recipients{{Cite web , last=Berkey , first=Charles A. , title=Scholarships {{! National Exchange Club (NEC) , url=https://www.nationalexchangeclub.org/exchangescholarships/ , access-date=2022-08-11 , website=www.nationalexchangeclub.org , language=english * 2020 Youth of the Year Winner, Victoria Orcutt Legacy Of The Year Recipients * 2020 Legacy of the Year Winner, Baleigh Childress

Organizational structure

The National Exchange Club is organized into 31 districts and 12 regions throughout the United States. The national

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

presides over every Exchange Club in the entire country. The regions are headed by a vice-president overseeing several districts, each headed by a district president. A local Exchange Club is managed by a president, president-elect,

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

and 6 to 8 members of a

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

References

External links

National Exchange Club Website

National Exchange Club Foundation

National Exchange Club's National Project: Prevent Child Abuse

Believe in the Blue - America's Child Abuse Prevention Project
Clubs and societies in the United States Service organizations based in the United States