On Oct. 5, Melbourne Elks Lodge #1744 used an Elks National Foundation Beacon Grant along with a matching Florida State Elks Association grant to donate $8,000 to the Brevard branch of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. This donation provided 42,100 pounds (over 21 tons) of food that was distributed to 35 food pantries/kitchens in the Melbourne and Palm Bay areas.
On Oct. 12, Melbourne Lodge used an Elks National Foundation Gratitude Grant to donate $3,000 to the Melbourne Police Foundation to purchase 50 food vouchers for precooked meals for families that are food insecure. Each of the 50 vouchers will feed 10 people for a total of 500 meals.