The newly formed Civitan on the Pamlico will elect club officers at an organizational meeting at 6 p.m. tonight at The Blind Center, 221 N. Harvey St., Washington.

Leigh Wilkinson, governor of N.C. Civitan District East, will oversee the elections and address the meeting, which is open to the public. Members will elect a president, president-elect, secretary, treasurer and directors.

Civitan on the Pamlico has enrolled 25 charter members to date. It expects to have at least 30 charter members by the time the club is officially charted by Civitan International later this month, according to Ben St. John, president of the New Bern Civitan Club, which is sponsoring the new club. The new club will be the 59th Civitan club in District East, which encompasses the area from High Point to the coast, and it will be the only Civitan club in Beaufort County.

Membership in Civitan on the Pamlico is open to men and women at least 18 years of age who are of good character and are interested in engaging in projects to meet community and individual needs that are not being served by other service organizations or individual efforts. Enrollees must pay a $25 initiation fee and quarterly dues once the club is chartered. After the club is chartered, members will determine the community-service and fundraising projects the club will undertake and the charities that it will support.

“Because Washington and other communities in Beaufort County would greatly benefit from a robust Civitan club, all community-minded citizens who gain satisfaction from helping others are urged to attend the meeting and seriously consider joining the club,” St. John said. “When you get involved with Civitan, you heighten your sense of self-esteem and derive satisfaction from knowing that you have contributed positively to the quality of life in your community.”

Established in Birmingham, Ala., in 1917, Civitan is an international service organization committed to building good citizenship by providing a volunteer organization of clubs dedicated to serving individual and community needs, with an emphasis on helping the developmentally disabled. A major supporter of Special Olympics, Civitan also sponsors the Civitan Research Center at the University of Alabama, which is dedicated to research of developmental disabilities, and the Child Developmental Unit at Duke University.