Albany’s Fussell Hughes to assume role as national Exchange Club president

ALBANY – In his nearly 30 years as an Exchange Club member, Fussell Hughes has worked his way up the ladder at the local, state, regional and national levels. This summer, he is slated to step to the top as the first Albanian and only the sixth Georgian to head the national organization in its 115-year history.

“I joined the Exchange Club of Albany in 1997,” Hughes said. “When I joined, I joined because they were having fun and doing good things in the community. I had no idea I would grow into a leadership role. I enjoyed what I was doing, along with the program’s of impact.”

The first Exchange Club was formed in 1911 in Detroit, and the club’s focus was on communities, helping the disadvantaged and encouraging good citizenship. Its three focus areas are youth, Americanism and community service, with child abuse prevention emphasized as the national project. 

In Albany, the club, founded in 1936, funds its activities through proceeds from the annual Exchange Club Fair of Southwest Georgia, golf tournaments and sales of Boston butts.

“The Albany Club gives out approximately $50,000 a year to support child abuse prevention work,” Hughes said. “The big story is the exchange (between) the clubs and what they do in their communities. We have programs like Project GIVEAKIDAFLAGTOWAVE where we go out in parades and give out flags that kids can wave.”

The Exchange Club also provides funding to local organizations, including Open Arms, Liberty House and the American Legion.  Other programs are focused on youth development and offer the chance to win scholarships.

There are about 138 members in Albany, and the club assisted with the formation of the Exchange Club of Lee County, which was chartered in 2022 with 37 members. Hughes is a member of both groups, as are his wife and daughter, and he also made a donation toward the formation of a club in Americus.

In addition to the regular clubs, Exchange also has collegiate clubs as well as excel clubs for high school students and junior excel programs for junior high students.

Nationwide there were a total of 13,840 members in the 28 districts in the United States and Puerto Rico, divided into 12 regions. Region 10 includes Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Nationally, there were 1,515 clubs as of Feb. 28, with a total of 13,840 members in the United States and Puerto Rico, Hughes said.

Over the years, he said, older members encouraged him to seek leadership roles, and the first of those roles he filled was vice president in Albany for 2013-2014, followed by tenures as president-elect the following year and president for 2015-2016.

Hughes, a Webster County native who graduated from Terrell County High School in 1968, will assume the role as national president for 2026-2027 during the 108th Exchange Club Convention in July in Omaha, Neb.

“An opening came up for somebody to run for national president,” he said. “It was in Louisville, Ky. I ran for national president-elect, and I won.

“It’s a huge honor. We’ve got clubs from Albany, Georgia, to Billings, Montana, to California, to Maine, to Puerto Rico. It’s a great honor to be elected and to have the confidence of the people who elected me.”

A big part of his role as president, as Hughes sees it, is being an ambassador and meeting with members across the country. He also hopes to help Exchange continue to grow.

“I’m just lucky to be where I’m at,” Hughes said. “I get to meet people. I get to spread the word of Exchange. We’re also in a growing mode, so I’ll continue to do that, too. My job is to spread the word of Exchange.”