The Kiwanis Club of Santa Susana celebrates 11 years in the community on Feb. 26.

The recipient of the club’s Jack Simmons Community Service Award will be announced that night.

Jack Simmons was a charter member of the Kiwanis and a tireless volunteer who worked on such programs as Meals on Wheels and the Lunch Bunch, inspiring the award named in his honor. He died three years ago.

The event will mark the third time the award has been given to people who’ve shown the same selfless spirit as Simmons did.

The recipient will receive a plaque, and a $1,000 donation will be made to the charity of their choice. Kiwanis club members are not eligible for the award.

"Volunteers are hugely important in the community," said Joan Knox, a 10-year Kiwanis member. "They’re the worker bees that get everything done."

Kiwanis are community volunteers, often working and raising funds for projects such as the tree watering at Corriganville Park or donating softballs and gloves to children at Casa Pacifica in Camarillo.

About 55 club members spent more than 2,500 volunteer hours last year, said Knox.

"Without groups like the Kiwanis doing the type of work they do . . . we wouldn’t be the community we are today," said Glen Becerra, Simi Valley city council member.

The 95-year-old club began in Michigan as a business network but soon changed its mission after some members became involved in community service. It became an international organization in 1916 when it opened a club in Canada.