One Of A Kind Club Gives Oklahomans With Disabilities Chance To Serve Community

True to their name, AKtion Club members are always on the go. 

“Sometimes we’re so busy it makes my head spin. But they never stop," said Jessicia Smith the founder of AKtion Club of Santa Fe Place.

The AKtion Club is Oklahoma’s only service club for adults with disabilities. 

Monday they were cleaning at Fresh Start Community Church in Moore. 

“You can ask any one of them, they’ll tell you their heart is to give back to the community," said Brian Marlett, Fresh Start Community Church lead pastor.

“It’s outgoing, uplifting. I’m paying them back because the Bible says, ‘Do to others as they do unto you’ so I’m doing back what they would do for me," said AKtion Club member Tina Seiler.

Jessicia started the club four years ago, co-sponsored by the Kiwanis clubs of Moore and South OKC. 

This week marks International AKtion Club week, the one time of the year where members of the club are celebrated for their work. 

Most of the 44 members live at Santa Fe Place in Moore, an intermediate care facility. 

They have their hands full with a number of service projects on a weekly basis, helping out their community, all while wiping away stereotypes. 

“Their motto is, ‘where development has no disability.’ There’s a lot of people in the communities that see them as not able to do things. AKtion Club goes out there every day and proves it wrong, and they do it with a smile," Smith said.

As much as these club members give back, they are also receiving something in return. 

“What’s most amazing I think, it teaches the AKtion Club members their value. It teaches them how valuable they can be to other people,” Smith said. 

Smith said their AKtion Club is open to anyone with a disability, and she would like to see more clubs in Oklahoma.