North Central District

Details

Written by Jan Belland

The Citrus Youth Educational Symphonic Orchestra (CYESO) is a program dedicated to teaching classical and symphonic music to children ages 5 to 19 in Citrus County and surrounding communities. Its focus is learning music for the development of intellect and character in children.

Inverness Elks Lodge’s Community Activities committee has chosen CYESO as its major project. The program has pledged to raise $4,000 by April 2019, and the lodge is very proud to have presented $1,500 toward that goal as of Nov. 2. Herb Yates, Community Activities chairman, is also the lodge disc jockey and donates his tips to the project. All CYESO donors receive a lapel button created by the lodge.

Inverness Lodge Community Activities chairman, Herb Yates, right, presents $500 to Executive Director of CYESO, Marty Hoffman, at the lodge.

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.