The award belongs to James Jones.

Jones said the credit belongs to a host of others.

Jones, who served as district governor from 2010-2011, recently received an award for his role in helping Civitan International’s Alabama-West Florida District grow by nearly 130 members from 2010-2011. The nearly 130 new members was the most by any district worldwide.

“They say it was because of my leadership, but I say it’s because of the hard work of a lot of people in the district,” Jones said.

Jones said the district was able to achieve the growth by starting three new clubs in Millbrook, Ala., Enterprise, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla.

“We realized that the older clubs were having a hard time retaining members, so we thought the best way to grow our district would be just to start new clubs,” Jones said. “With those three clubs we were able to add 128 new members in one year.”

Jones, a member of both the Camellia City Civitan Club and the Prattville Civitan Club, became a Civitan in 2006 and said he would not have received the award without the help of his clubs and the various clubs in his district.

“Greenville’s club played a big role in our district being recognized,” Jones said. “It took a lot of people working hard for us to receive this award.  It wasn’t just me.”

Civitan International has 26 districts in 33 countries.

The organization was founded in 1917, and now boasts more than 40,000 members across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

According to the organization’s website, the worldwide mission of Civitan International is to build good citizenship by providing a volunteer organization of clubs dedicated to serving individual and community needs, with an emphasis on helping people with developmental disabilities. The centerpiece of this focus is the UAB Civitan International Research Center, founded in 1991 through an ongoing financial commitment from Civitan. Located at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the research facility is dedicated to improving lives through the research and treatment of developmental disabilities and other cognitive disorders.

To learn more about Civitan International visit civitan.org.