North Central District

Details

Written by Tracy Stockel

Ocala Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler, Mike Miller; Esquire, CJ Duplechin; and PER Brian Seybert served a meal to community members who are homeless at the September meal at Interfaith. Interfaith is a local organization that helps low-income and homeless people. The lodge serves a meal there every other month, and in the months in between, they provide bags of toiletries for them to pass out.

Ocala Lodge’s PER Brian Seybert and Exalted Ruler, Mike Miller, are pictured with CJ Duplechin’s children, Byron and Amelia, as they serve a meal to community members who are homeless at Interfaith’s September meal.

Details

Written by Winter Park Elks

PER Vivian Thomas, Charlie Thomas, PER Ron Goluba, Fran Hendricks and Jim Esposito shopped for hours purchasing back-to-school supplies. The supplies were delivered to Casselberry, East Brook, Winter Springs and English Estates Elementary schools. Funding for the supplies was possible through a $2,000 Elks National Foundation Gratitude Grant.

Details

Written by Winter Park Elks

Winter Park Lodge held a fundraiser for Florida Elks Children’s Therapy Services. Jane Russo, FECTS physical therapist, and Diane Norton, FECTS occupational therapist, are two of the 28 therapists who provide in-home therapy to over 500 Florida children each week. Russo shared her wonderfully moving success story of a young child she has been working with. This truly reminded everyone in attendance of the importance for all Florida Elks to continue to financially support the Harry-Anna Trust Fund.

Pictured are PER Vivian Thomas, fundraiser chairman; therapist Diane Norton; Ellie Dier, Branden’s mother; therapist Jane Russo; PDD Colleen Gallant, Therapy Services Director; Steve Dier, Branden’s father; and Branden Dier, a recipient of FECTS therapy.

Details

Written by Winter Park Elks

Winter Park Lodge’s dictionary chairman, PER Ron Goluba; member Sue Jovi and volunteers distributed over 2,700 dictionaries to third-graders at 21 elementary schools in Seminole and Orange counties. Lodge Elks and Does turned out to help put bookmarks and drug-free red ribbons in each dictionary. The Dictionary Project was founded in 1995 and the Elks joined this movement in 2004. The Elks nationwide have donated more than 1.2 million dictionaries to third-grade students. The lodge has received hundreds of handmade cards from the children and are posted on the hallway bulletin board.

Details

Written by Ocala Elks

Ocala Elks Lodge #286 hosted a Marion County Sheriff’s appreciation night. Sheriff Billy Woods and Exalted Ruler, Mike Miller, honored two deputies for outstanding community service. Off-duty K-9 Deputy Jeremie Nix was flagged down by the mother of an unresponsive three-month-old baby. He performed several lifesaving measures and then rushed him to the hospital, and the baby, Kingston, made a full recovery. Corp. Jim Long responded to and took control of the school shooting at Forest High after a student brought a sawed-off shotgun in a guitar case. Thankfully, there was only one student injured.

Recently, Deputy Ryan Owens was involved in a serious accident after a truck crossed the center line and hit his patrol car head on. After several surgeries, he faces many months of rehab before he can return to duty. Ocala Exalted Ruler, Mike Miller, encouraged members to donate money to help Deputy Owens, and in one night, the lodge raised $2,500.