ELIZABETHTOWN — When Michael Aycock was serving in the United States military, he used to tell people that he had the best job possible because he got to serve God, his country and his fellow man.

But even after he retired from the U.S. Army after 23 years, earning the rank of captain, he still thinks he has the best of all worlds.

“The government pays my pension and I still get to serve God and my fellow man,” Aycock said.

It’s that service which has earned Aycock the June honor of Citizen of the Month.

If you spend much time with him, Aycock will fill a conversation about two things — things he is heavily involved with. Those are the Elizabethtown Kiwanis Club and Elizabethtown Presbyterian Church.

Aycock is in his second year as president of the local Kiwanis Club, and he’s been on a mission over the past year to beef up the club’s membership. He’d love to see it get back to the numbers of its heyday, when it boasted of 30-plus members back in the 1960s and ’70s.

“We’re right about 15 members now, which is a few more than the low we hit not long ago,” Aycock said about the club that has been active in Elizabethtown for 52 years. “But it’s an ongoing effort to find new members.”

He said the club has been going through an “aging out process” recently and hopes some of the town’s younger guys will consider joining.

“You don’t have to be invited,” Aycock said. “Just come.”

One of the big reasons Aycock wants to see the club flourish is so that it can remain active in its main focus: youth projects.

In June, the club awarded a $500 scholarship to a student from each of the two local high schools. It is also a sponsor of Boy Scout Troop 602, which Aycock said produces “a very high number of Eagle scouts.” And, among other projects, the club is also involved with supporting Lake Waccamaw Boys & Girls Home.

“Youth are the leaders of the future,” Aycock said. “And I’m proud the Kiwanis Club works with local youth so closely. If I could win the lottery, I’d want to build a community center here to give our youth something positive to do.”

Aycock’s other interest centers around his church.

“When the pastor, Dr. Bill Young, needs something done, he knows he can call on me,” Aycock said.

For quite some time, Aycock has devoted much of his energies to Bladen Crisis and its food pantry — an organization that is supported by most of the churches in the county, but origianted through Elizabethtown Presbyterian.

“It’s a pleasure for me to see people getting the help they need,” Aycock said. “And I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.”