Local leader rises to the top

Local leader rises to the top

On hand to congratulate James Phillip(c) are President Marget Haynie Berk of Central Broward Kiwanis Club(l)  and supporter.

By Ciera Campbell

On Aug. 2, 2013 in Jacksonville Fla., James Phillips was inducted into the Florida District Kiwanians Hall of Fame by the Kiwanis Organization for his timeless volunteer services.

Phillips is the engineer behind the creation of the Central Broward Club along with local leaders such as Herman Pittman, the late William Dandy and even the notable Levi Henry, Jr.  the founder of Westside Gazette Newspaper. Each notable member helped charter and build Central Broward Kiwanis Club from the very beginning in 1975.

Mr. Phillips has been a Kiwanian for forty years and has been involved in many projects such as the Dictionary Giveaway which involved the Kiwanian members to donating hundreds of dictionaries to local Broward County Public Schools such as Park Lakes Elementary School.  The Central Broward Kiwanis Club additionally sponsored Christmas in July, which allows for students to donate school supplies to homeless kids that are not financially stable.

One of the closet projects to his heart is the journey to eliminate childhood drownings. After understanding the a-mount of volunteering and projects that Phillips was involved in, it was admirable that he was not seeking any recognition for his success; he was just doing what was right to improve the lives of young children.

The selection process to be inducted into the Florida District Kiwanians Hall of Fame was held secret for a year from Mr. Philips. A few days after he was presented the award you could still hear the excitement in his voice.

“I was not expecting for my name to get submitted and it was a surprise and I accepted it”.

Although Phillips has been awarded and has served 40 years with Kiwanis his journey is continuing through the upcoming year, with plans on bringing awareness to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.