According to the Eugene Active 20-30 Club’s motto, a person never stands so tall as when kneeling to help a child. There are 90 club members, coming from all walks of life, but the basic mission of serving their community is what binds them.
Founded in 1927, the Active 20-30 Club serves the community by raising money, performing charitable labor and providing community-based services for children.
At a recent weekly club meeting at the Oregon Electric Station, members spoke about their great friendships, the wonderful business contacts they get from being members and the plans for the Duck Athletic Fund to raise more money next year to fund scholarships for student athletes.
What brings them together every week, however, is a love for service.
“We get a real chance to make a difference in people’s lives,” club president Mike Clark said. “The club is such a great opportunity to make a whole bunch of friends while giving back to the community.”
Clark, who has been with the club for six years, is president of a Eugene-based public relations and advertising firm. Clark joined the Active 20-30 Club to meet new people and improve his business contacts in the community. For the most part, Clark was interested in giving back to the community.
“I own a business in town, so I felt like I had a responsibility to my community to try and give something back,” Clark said. “The club seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
Club officer and University alumnus Tim Campbell said the Eugene Active 20-30 Club is a perfect way for students to learn a little more about the community they live in and the realities of life.
“I went to the UO, and although it is right in the middle of Eugene, it can seem like a totally different world,” Campbell said. “Getting involved with the 20-30 Club will allow a person to get out of the college shell, meet real people, see real-life problems that exist in our community and get a start on adult life.”
Campbell also said the 20-30 Club is a worldwide organization, which allows its members to get involved in international issues and attend conferences in many other parts of the world.
All members of the club are between the ages of 20 and 40, and Clark said roughly 60 or 70 percent of the members are University alumni. Graduates of the club go on to participate in other local organizations.
The Oregon Club, which is an organization composed of University graduates, and is open to University graduates of all ages, is a popular place for former 20-30 Club members to get involved in their community and their alma mater.
The Oregon Club supports University athletics with fund-raisers and community service projects. The four previous Oregon Club presidents were members of the 20-30 Club.
Among other service projects, Active 20-30 Club members serve as ushers at Duck basketball games, organize the annual Kids Classic Golf Marathon, coordinate the Coats for Kids project and organize the annual July 4 fireworks display at the Lane County Fairgrounds.
“It takes committed members to do these things,” member and University alumnus Mike Boring said. “We cannot afford to have members who are joining for purely social reasons. We literally ask every new applicant if they are serious about joining an ‘active club’ that has high expectations. It’s very important to us.”That’s not to say that we are difficult to work with. In fact, no one has more fun than our members.”
Past president Tucker Davies said he joined in 1985 because he liked the projects the 20-30 Club was working on.
“I like the fact that we can get together, have a good time and help out kids in the process,” Davies said. “Everyone is different in the club. We listen to different music, have different lifestyles. But everyone gets along so well because of our willingness to help out the community.”
Davies, who served as national president of the Active 20-30 Club from 1998 to 1999, said the Eugene club has worked with clubs in El Salvador, Colombia, Austria, Kenya and Italy, just to name a few.
In summer 2001, Eugene will play host to the World Convention of the Active 20-30 Club. Davies said nearly 1,000 members from all over the world will come to Eugene for the convention.