A nearly century-old civic club in Clarksville has rebuilt itself around an unusual idea: instead of only raising money and volunteering for people with developmental disabilities, it made them full members. The Clarksville Civitan Club now gathers each week to hear guest speakers, raise money for charitable causes and serve the community, with adults with developmental disabilities sitting at the table as members rather than simply as the people the club serves.
From Crossroads to Comeback
The club, founded in 1922, is described on its own website as dedicated to serving individual and community needs with an emphasis on helping people with developmental disabilities, according to clarksvillecivitan.org. As reported by NewsChannel 5, the club stopped meeting during the pandemic and faced an uncertain future afterward, having reached a crossroads as COVID-19 disruption caused isolation and a shift to virtual meetings. Out of that uncertainty, the club's board of directors decided to invite adults with developmental disabilities to become members, per the station's report.
The result, according to the same account, was dramatic: the club says its membership more than doubled after it began offering free membership to adults with developmental disabilities, growing from around 40 members before the program to more than 100 members today. New members participate in service efforts and community projects alongside longtime Civitans, the outlet reports, and the club also provides a weekly meal to invited members at its Wednesday lunch gatherings — a meeting rhythm the club's own site confirms it holds every week.
A Weekly Highlight for One Member
Among those new members is Jeremy Stubblefield, who washes dishes at Sweet Pea in Sango and, per the same account, considers the weekly Civitan meetings the highlight of his week. He arrives early to help set up and stays late to help clean up afterward, the station notes, and he has said that people must work with others to get a job done. Stubblefield has also said he values the fellowship and the chance to meet others, according to the report.
Club leaders told the outlet that the Clarksville chapter may be the only one in the country combining traditional members and the people it serves into a single membership. The change is framed as having strengthened the organization and its mission, creating, in the words of the report, a place where the people it serves help shape its future — bringing together people from different backgrounds who share a common goal of serving the community.
A Long History of Local Giving
The membership shift builds on decades of fundraising work. The club raises money through projects such as Vidalia onion sales, Claxton fruitcake sales and an Austin Peay scholarship scavenger hunt at Riverfest, according to the club's website. Those funds have gone to organizations including Progressive Directions, the NIA Association, the Civitan International Research Center, Special Olympics and Austin Peay scholarships, the site states.
The club's reach extends well beyond its own fundraisers. Civitan members are involved in the leadership, service and support of more than 25 nonprofit organizations in the community, according to Clarksville Now. Since 2022, the club has also provided leadership, management and volunteer coordination for the Greater Clarksville Area 12 Special Olympics, the outlet reports.
Pandemic Setbacks Gave Way to New Traditions
The pandemic hit the club's finances and format hard. Many of its major fundraisers were canceled in 2020, and the club shifted to holding its weekly meetings in a hybrid fashion, allowing members to attend in person or by Zoom, according to a separate Clarksville Now report from that period. Since then, the club has added new traditions, including an annual Servant's Heart program recognizing people who support intellectually or developmentally disabled Clarksville residents, according to Main Street Media.
Civitan International, the parent organization, describes its worldwide mission as building good citizenship through volunteer clubs dedicated to serving individual and community needs, with an emphasis on helping people with developmental disabilities, according to clarksvillecivitan.org. The Clarksville chapter's decision to fold the people it serves directly into its membership rolls now stands out even among other Civitan clubs, including chapters like Martinsburg Civitan listed on Civitan International's site.
