Wow! We just finished our first in-person-socially-distant 2021 ADEC Mid-Winter Conference held on Saturday, January 30th in Irondale, AL.  The ADEC Board voted unanimously to hold the conference in-person and was dedicated to serving our district following CDC Guidelines.  More than 24 ADEC members and guests participated in the conference that was chock full of Americanism projects for your club, leadership training by NEC Region 9 VP Kim Prado, 30 new ideas for socially-distanced Programs of Service (POS), and a unique ADEC Inter-Club Service project to collect school supplies for children at our three Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Centers in the state.  The catered lunch arranged by Joyce Franklin was awesome and the hospitality shown by the Irondale Club was super. Since the start of the new club year on July 1, 2020, clubs in the ADEC have "stepped up to the plate and hit a home run" with regards to serving Alabama communities during times of the COVID-19 pandemic.  ADEC clubs have learned how to hold in-person socially distant meetings safely and have mastered the art of conducting business meetings on the ZOOM platform. Mostly, our clubs have been finding a need in their communities and have been filling it! A host of programs of service including erection of Freedom Shrines by the Exchange Club of Irondale and the Exchange Club of Montgomery, packing Christmas shoeboxes for children by the Exchange Club of the Shoals (ADEC's newest club of the year!), earning the first National Service Award (NSA) in Alabama by the Exchange Club of Shelby County in early October and much more! We look forward to an inspiring, fun, and motivational 100th ADEC Convention at the Hotel Capstone on the campus of the University of Alabama June 11-13, 2021, in a safe and socially-distant environment.  I hope you will join us! Also, our entire 2020 ADEC virtual convention was recorded on ZOOM.  For fun, watch the 99th Annual ADEC Convention below. (click on note button in bottom right to turn on sound).

For our future meetings and gatherings, I will take the responsibility of making sure that all speakers and guest speakers adhere to the ideals, mission, and statements for which the National Exchange Club stands. From our NEC website, I wholeheartedly endorse the following:

The people of the United States have the great ability to heal our country. In a year filled with so much divisiveness and heartache, we can make a choice to work together – in unity – to create a country in which we all want to live … a country which we are proud to leave our future generations. Now is the time to see through anger and fear, to use the remnants of these emotions to do something tangible and impactful. Take the Unity Pledge!

"We will create a strong America, safe communities, and unified people. We, as American citizens, aspire to make our communities better places to live through unity and perseverance. We recognize that the United States is a pluralistic society, in that our country is a diverse one, where our people have all types of beliefs. We tolerate each other’s beliefs even when they don’t align with our own. We understand that to tolerate a different opinion means a willingness to accept behavior and beliefs that are different from our own, although we might not agree with or approve of them. We understand that this is a strength necessary for positive discourse and a healthy society. We are committed to healing our country from within and are willing to take the steps necessary to lead America to true UNITY. We call on leaders at every level – from small business owners in our communities to our elected representatives in Washington DC – to do what is right for the people of the United States and join us in creating real change."

Sign the Unity Pledge on Change.org.

Thank you for

all that you do for Exchange,

​

Maureen Murphy

2020-2021 ADEC President