On Nov. 12 and Dec. 9, Venice-Nokomis Elks Lodge #1854 packed 80 food baskets for Thanksgiving dinners and 80 for Christmas dinners and were delivered to a local elementary school and dropped off to the guidance counselors to protect the privacy of the recipients in need. The lodge also provided 31 families with toys for Christmas. Again, the guidance counselors were of help providing the lodge with a list of first names and ages of children. All this was accomplished using their Elks National Foundation Beacon Grant.
Venice-Nokomis Lodge members Laura Wood, Sherie Gillum, Tom Hart, Lisa Hart, Randy Brown, Barbara Greensburg, June Appleget, Karen Lumplin, Diane Theis and Linda Eaker pack Thanksgiving dinner packages.