There's a new club in Fort Smith whose members are pledging to help individuals in need and to volunteer to help champion other causes.
Chartered Oct. 31, the Fort Smith Civitan Club now has more than 20 members who are focusing on hosting, promoting and participating in various area programs to help people who have developmental disabilities, said Bob Shell, who is governor for the Civitan Heartland District and helped establish the Fort Smith Civitan Club.
"The main focus is to help individuals with developmental disabilities, which is why we are involved with Tim Tebow's Night to Shine event and Special Olympics in Fort Smith," he said. "The Night to Shine event will take place Friday at the West-Ark Church of Christ in Fort Smith."
Night to Shine provides a prom-style event for individuals with special needs, said Lacey Klemm, president for the Fort Smith Civitan Club.
"Night to Shine is going to be so neat," she said. "It's an opportunity for those with special needs to get dressed up, walk the red carpet, have their pictures made and feel that special-ness that they may not always get to feel.
"We definitely want those individuals to shine, and it's exciting because you get to share that excitement with them," Klemm added. "Some of our members are serving as dates and partners for the participants, which will be great that evening."
This event and others mirror Civitan's long-standing motto, which is "Builders of Good Citizenship," she said.
"We also will volunteer for the Special Olympics in April, since Fort Smith is one of the regional sites for the state of Arkansas," Shell said. "And we'll also work for The Arc for the River Valley, where we are building a wheelchair ramp so their clients can get up and do presentations on the stage."
The Fort Smith Civitan Club is the newest of 40 clubs that comprise the Civitan Heartland District, which covers Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Texas, said Shell, who also is a longtime member of the Bartlesville, Okla., Civitan Club. The Heartland District has more than 1,000 members and is part of Civitan International, which boasts more than 40,000 members across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa, he said.
"We stay busy with activities like ringing the bells for the Salvation Army in December," Shell said. "We want to help the community."
Klemm also volunteered positive comments for the new club and its mission.
"What's exciting about this club is, it's new and fresh, and not your typical, run-of-the-mill civic organization," she said. "Our focus is the community, but we give additional attention to disabilities. Not a lot of attention is placed on that, otherwise.
"And this is a 100-year organization that hasn't been seen in Fort Smith before," Klemm added. "It's nice to be accepted by the community here, and it's nice to be getting people involved."
Hosting its meetings at noon on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at Abilities Unlimited in Van Buren, the Fort Smith Civitan Club started after Shell and his wife and fellow Civitan member, Mary Shell, passed through Fort Smith multiple times during visits to Civitan clubs in Little Rock and other areas.
"We thought we needed to meet people in Fort Smith so we can say 'Hello' when we stop by, so we started with the Chamber of Commerce, and they told us to talk to Eddie Lee Herndon with the United Way," Bob Shell said. "There was a meeting, and then it started snowballing. Everyone anyone recommended, we contacted them, and people started getting excited about it. They didn't know, at the time, that Civitan existed, but everyone clearly saw a need for Civitan."
By the time the club's fourth preliminary meeting happened, more than a dozen area residents wanted to become members, he said.
"It's good because we've had five people turn in paperwork to become members, so we could have as many as 28 members in the club," said Klemm. "We're hoping to grow."
Originating in 1917 in Birmingham, Ala., Civitan Club requires that members be 18 or older and pay quarterly dues, which usually are $15 for an individual with special needs and $30 for other members. Each club has a president, a president-elect, an immediate past president, a secretary and a treasurer, with all positions being nominated by the club's members, Bob Shell said.
"A meeting usually opens with prayer, and it's amazing that our club can include persons with developmental disabilities," he said. "Robin Elkin is the secretary for the Fort Smith club, and he has special needs. The same goes for Amy Price, who is the secretary of the Fort Smith club and has special needs. It's great having them involved."
Klemm agreed.
"Other clubs want you to be in attendance every week, but Civitan understands because of titles and where the members work and what they do, members can't always make every meeting," she said. "With Civitan, it's not necessarily about coming to every meeting. We want your participation, and we want you to serve the community, so we will email and call to make sure members stay aware and stay involved."
The club's diversity at the local, national and international levels is "remarkable," said Mary Shell, who once served as secretary and coordinated social committees for the Bartlesville Civitan Club.
"It's good that our club is very diverse — there's young people, older people and people with special needs in our club, and we have people who are economically challenged and people who are wealthy," she said. "When those types of individuals come together, you get a wonderful sense that no one is left out."
Klemm predicted that Civitan members and other volunteers will feel waves of inspiration while helping with the upcoming Special Olympics event in Fort Smith.
"It's great fun to see people competing and seeing what they are compassionate about, whether they win or not," she said. "They are out there just enjoying themselves."
The Fort Smith Civitan Club members have plans to launch Civitan programs to get area high school and college students active in the community, Bob Shell said.
"We want to work with other groups in town; we don't want to reinvent the wheel," he said. "We want to help the community, and we see our club as a way to work together with other people. We're not in competition. We're in cooperation with others. We want to help this community any way we can."
Civitan Heartland District's 2018 Convention will be held Aug. 24-26 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Fort Smith, Bob Shell said. Civitan members also plan on hosting a Fun Run fundraiser sometime during the convention to raise money for Special Olympics, he said.
"If someone wanted to join Civitan and come to the convention, that would be fine, and our Fort Smith Civitan Club Facebook page has lots of great information," Bob Shell said. "We'll recognize different projects and the top fundraiser in the district, and we'll give out awards at the convention."
For Klemm, the convention will be another opportunity to put the Civitan Club name in front of the public.
"We are wanting to build up the community; that is all we want to do," she said. "We want to build that trust and faith in the community, and have that involvement with others. It's just great to be able to have this opportunity to tell people all of the great things that Civitan Club has to offer."