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Florida Elks News Editor:
Rachael King
Entire contents copyright 2020 by the
Florida State Elks Association Inc.
P.O. Box 49
Umatilla, FL 32784-0049
P.O. Box 49
Umatilla, FL 32784-0049
352-669-9443
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West Central District
Holiday Isles Elks Collect Gifts for Children Living in Temporary Locations
- Details
- Written by Holiday Isles Elks
Rhonda Smith, PER of Holiday Isles Lodge learned from Santa's Angels of Indian Rocks, Florida, that children 8 years old and younger experiencing homelessness were living with their parents in cars and other temporary locations due to the pandemic and needed toys and clothing for Christmas. These young ages were the main focus for the gift choices. The lodge gathered 469 toys along with baby clothes, diapers, wipes, blankets and backpacks valued at $4,690 and $2,745 in cash for a total value of $7,435 by Nov. 28. When Santa's Angels came to the lodge with their truck to pick up the donations, the amount of the donations was too large for the truck and they sent three SUVs Nov. 29 to pick up the rest. Pictured are Rhonda Smith, PER, project chair; Wally Hawthorne, Santa’s Angels vice president; and Mike Brown, Santa’s Angels president.
Tampa Elks Overcome Obstacles to Provide Thanksgiving Meals to Community Members Experiencing Homelessness
- Details
- Written by Rita Smith
For more than six years, Tampa Lodge has partnered with Open Arms Ministry and used its Elks National Foundation Beacon Grant to provide an early Sunday morning Thanksgiving dinner to community members experiencing homelessness. This year provided several challenges to accomplishing this, but the determination of Tampa Elks to help those in need powered them through to find a solution. First, the meals this year had to be picked up instead of sharing the meals together. Second, neither kitchen at the lodge or ministry was available to use the weekend before Thanksgiving. After a Zoom meeting between lodge members and their Open Arms partners, it was decided that instead of cooking, the Elks would provide each recipient a gift card to Publix which has a deli. Members purchased 85 Thanksgiving greeting cards and on Nov. 12, they wrote messages of support in each one. Third, the lodge had to close for two weeks due to COVID-19 cases which caused the delivery of the gift cards to fall through. The gift cards were eventually located and retrieved from the FedEx office just in time for them to be inserted in the greeting cards and distributed Nov. 29. “Our warm-hearted mother-daughter team, Courtney Weil, PER and Cristina Sanchez, were at the Open Arms Ministry by 7 a.m. on Sunday morning,” says Rita Smith, project manager. They handed each attendee a card as they signed in. Despite multiple obstacles, Tampa Elks persisted to make sure that those who needed a meal could still get one.
Pictured are Christina Sanchez and Courtney Weil, PER handing out the cards.
Betty Orcutt, Ladies of Elks President, and Sue Moore are pictured with personalized cards.
Boy Scout Troop 209 Works on Cooking Merit Badges with St. Petersburg Lodge Chef
- Details
- Written by May Graci
On Nov. 9, St. Petersburg Lodge and its chef, John Bauer, hosted Boy Scout Troop 209. Twelve boys and four adult leaders were present. The scouts are currently working on their cooking merit badge. Requirements for this badge are health and safety, nutrition, cooking basics, cooking at home, camp cooking, and trail and backpacking meals. Bauer educated the boys on the proper way to prepare, cook and clean chicken and vegetables (onions, carrots and potatoes) with a sauce. Afterward, the boys sat down to dinner and enjoyed the meal they prepared. Pictured during the lesson are Boy Scouts Calvin Stroup, John Lampman and Thomas Orsoni.
The Kind Mouse Receives Third Donation from St. Petersburg Lodge
- Details
- Written by May Graci
On Sept. 24, St. Petersburg Elks Lodge #1224 donated $2,000 from its Elks National Foundation Beacon Grant to the Kind Mouse Productions Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in St. Petersburg, Florida, that assists children in Pinellas County with food insecurities and chronic hunger. This is the lodge’s third donation to this organization because the lodge has an ongoing commitment to making it as easy as possible for Kind Mouse volunteers to get food to children impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Kind Mouse feeds children on weekends, but because of the pandemic, they have increased their services to a weekly basis which also sometimes includes food for the parents. Pictured are Dawn Elaine Lieber, PER, grant writer; Gina Wilkins, president and founder of The Kind Mouse; and Dan Masi, Leading Knight and liaison to The Kind Mouse.
St. Petersburg Lodge Member Makes Quilt for MSM Fundraiser
- Details
- Written by May Graci
On Oct. 27, on behalf of St. Petersburg Elks Lodge #1224, lodge member Kat Chaplin visited the offices of Music Sweet Music Inc. (MSM) to deliver a quilt that she spent many hours making for MSM’s Facebook fundraiser. The handmade queen-size quilt valued at $379 featured a uniquely designed military-theme. In the center of the quilt was an eagle in flight looking at three soldiers. Each edge of the quilt named a military branch of service — Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. Chaplin also donated a double-sided fleece throw for the silent auction fundraiser valued at $75. Pictured with Chaplin is Ted Wagner, lodge member and MSM president and founder Ted Wagner.
Tampa Elks Deliver Drug Awareness Supplies to Elementary Schools
- Details
- Written by Rita Smith
In October, red ribbons were passed out to Tampa Elks Lodge members to wear to promote Red Ribbon Month. The last week in October was Drug Awareness Week. Tampa Lodge #708 partnered with two elementary schools, Lanier Elementary and West Shore Elementary, to promote Red Ribbon Week and to give back to the community. Volunteers had not yet been approved to visit Tampa’s elementary schools, so the lodge gave each school 250 Drug Awareness coloring books to use while teaching the students to "Be a Hero and Say No to Drugs." Each school was also given 300 red ribbons to pass out to the students to wear during Red Ribbon Week. Pictured are Loyd “Tommy” Moore, Drug Awareness Chair, and Linda Drawdy, West Shore Elementary principal.
Three School Receive Supplies from St. Petersburg Lodge Members
- Details
- Written by May Graci
To help give children the tools they need to succeed, St. Petersburg Lodge members donated school supplies including backpacks, pens and pencils, notebooks, crayons, handwriting paper, watercolors, colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, highlighters, supply boxes, dividers, tissues, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes. On Sept. 16, the supplies were distributed to three neighboring schools — Azalea Elementary School, Westgate Elementary School and Pinellas Park Middle School. Each school received over $250 worth of supplies for teachers and students. Pictured in the first photo are Yaritza Ramos, Azalea Elementary’s office liaison; Jan Giallourakis, lodge member; and Brian Denson, head of plant operations for Azalea Elementary. Pictured in the second photo are Susan Baker, Westgate Elementary’s community liaison, and Kirk Martin, Inner Guard. Doc Cook, Exalted Ruler and Pinellas Park Middle School science teacher, is pictured in his classroom.
Holiday Isles Lodge Collects Food for Community
- Details
- Written by Kim DeBois & Sandra Gann
During July and August, Holiday Isles Elks Lodge #1912 started the wishing well food drive for local charities and local veterans’ administration programs. Sandra Gann, Joan May and Larry Schear are the Elks volunteers who handle collection and delivery of the items. As of Aug. 17, over 100 pounds of food have been delivered to the St. Petersburg Free Clinic in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, which provides food, shelter and health care to the community. In addition, approximately $1,000 worth of food, calibrated for backpacks, has been provided to the Ready for Life program in Largo, Florida. This program helps children who have aged out of foster care. Also, $850 worth of food and $650 of clothing was provided to the Bay Pines Veterans Administration in St. Petersburg for their Veterans’ Donation Center for families and for the veterans’ outreach efforts. Pictured are the wishing wells that are placed outside the lodge on Tuesdays and Saturdays for drop-off of nonperishable food.
Tampa Elks Participate in Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful
- Details
- Written by Rita Smith
Tampa Elks Lodge #708 has adopted 1.1 miles of Himes Avenue from Gandy Boulevard to Bay Avenue as part of the Mayor’s Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful program. This participation was initiated by Melissa Bertoch, lodge chaplain. Their first cleanup was held Aug. 15; nine members each collect an average of 1.5 bags of trash. Firefighters at the station on this route and neighbors were thankful for the cleanup. Bertoch is pictured with Rita Smith and Theresa Seibert, PDD.
Pinellas Park Middle School Teachers Receive Homemade Masks from St. Petersburg Lodge Member
- Details
- Written by May Graci
St. Petersburg Lodge member Kat Chaplain made 64 cloth face masks that were distributed to Pinellas Park Middle School (PPMS) teachers Sept. 4. Michael “Doc” Cook, Exalted Ruler, one of the recipients of the masks, delivered the rest of them to PPMS teachers on Chaplain’s behalf. Cook teaches seventh grade science at PPMS and he has five classes that are taught simultaneously, which means that he is teaching students that are present in his classroom as well as teaching students who have chosen to do online learning. He also has one class that's only face to face in a classroom. Masks are now a necessary tool in teachers’ daily routines and represent the most recent efforts by the lodge to support the school district and its teachers as the new school year begins. Cook is pictured wearing his new mask Sept. 4 at PPMS.
St. Petersburg Lodge Member Delivers Homemade Masks to Music Sweet Music
- Details
- Written by May Graci
On Sept. 5, St. Petersburg Lodge member Penny Rase delivered 50 hand-sewn face masks to help protect Music Sweet Music’s (MSM Inc.) board-certified music therapists and their clients from COVID-19. The face masks are made from a new tight-weave cotton fabric and are double sided; they have an elastic cord for comfort around the ears. The masks range in sizes, for children 3 years old to adults and are stored in an unscented, new plastic bag. The therapists are currently seeing their clients via ZOOM, one on one in the client’s home or at their MSM music therapy studio in South Pasadena, Florida. For in-person interactions, MSM follows state, local and facility safety guidelines such as temperature checks, symptom checks and screenings, use of face masks, social distancing, etc. The therapists’ ultimate goal is to support skill development in areas such as communication, academic learning, daily living skills, motor functioning, social skills, behavior and mental health. Pictured are May Graci, lodge member and liaison to MSM, and Rase.
Tampa Lodge Delivers Supplies to West Shore Elementary
- Details
- Written by Rita Smith
On Sept. 2, Tampa Lodge delivered school supplies valued at approximately $400 to West Shore Elementary School in Port Tampa, Florida. Due to the pandemic, lodge members were unable to hold a back-to-school party this year, so the Youth Activities Chair, Patty Volpe, asked members to donate school supplies for local students instead. West Shore Elementary was chosen based on their high percentage of students who receive Title 1 funding in the form of free lunches. The school was also chosen because a survey of other south Tampa fraternal organizations indicated that the school was not on any of their lists. Visitors are not allowed inside any school at the present time; there is not even a volunteer screening page on the school board’s website. Linda Drawdy, principal, was very appreciative and she took time out her busy day to come outside to thank the members who delivered the supplies. Because foot traffic at the lodge is low due to the pandemic and the donations were down considerably from previous years, Volpe set up an Amazon wish list that will allow anyone to purchase supplies online and choose to have them delivered directly to the school under the lodge’s name. The need is pretty high at this school that has so many students from families with low incomes and there is not any nearby shopping for families without transportation. Pictured with the supplies are Volpe; Shannon Wheatley, Lecturing Knight; and Marilyn Rivera, school custodian.