ABOUT EXCHANGE
The
first Exchange Club was formed in Detroit in 1911 by a group of business
men, some of whom had met together since 1896. The club was called "Exchange,"
because its members wanted to exchange ideas and information with like-minded
individuals about how to better serve their communities. Today the National
Exchange Club is the longest-standing nonprofit, educational, American
service club comprising nearly 800 individual clubs in the United States
and The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
The key principles initially sponsored by Exchange include Americanism,
Service to Youth and Community
Service. In 1979, Exchange became the first American service club
to adopt Child Abuse Prevention as its national
project. It also is the first American service club to open its rolls
to women. Today more than 26,000 men and women of Exchange participate
in broadly diverse Exchange-sponsored programs to help improve the quality
of life in their communities and in America.
The National
Exchange Club headquarters is in Toledo, OH. Its main mission is
to help Exchange Clubs everywhere realize their full potential of community
service.
Unity For Service
"Unity for Service" is the Exchange Club's motto, and it
characterizes the spirit and purpose of the many community and patriotic
projects that it sponsors. Because the Exchange Club is exclusively
an American institution without international affiliation, it does not
hesitate to lend its voice and effort to programs which project the
fundamental American heritage of freedom.
Why Join Exchange?
- To have fun succeeding while creating new friendships and
giving something back;
- To help build a better America, and in so doing, bring out
the best in ourselves;
- To achieve the feeling of personal satisfaction through
unselfish service to others;
- To help kids lead normal and happy lives through our Child
Abuse Prevention national project;
- To share time and talent through public-spirited projects
undertaken to improve the communities in which we live.
