Tampa Lodge used its $2,000 Elks National Foundation Spotlight Grant on pandemic relief again this year, so they again turned to Stepping Stones, a community center that serves families in real need in one of the most economically depressed areas of Tampa, Florida. Under the lead of member Christina Sanchez, the lodge made a serious impact on 40 students and their families. Each child was given a pair of name-brand shoes and some socks. Since Sanchez is involved with this community center on a regular basis and knows the children, she obtained their shoe sizes and took notes about their preferences. She and her mom, trustee Courtney Weil, PER, went shopping Aug. 1 at Westshore Mall during the tax-free week and got incredible bargains. They returned to the lodge and with the help of a few members who happened to be there, they wrapped and tagged all 40 pairs. Rita Smith, Leading Knight, was tasked with purchasing 40 small toys or gifts with $200 from charity funds. A donation from Jack Johnson brought that part of the project in under budget. On Aug. 4, Weil and her father, Whiz, did the major food shopping to fulfill the third part of the project — two full meals for each family. The food was prepared Aug. 6, the morning of the party, and then everything was loaded into five large vehicles and transported from the lodge to the community center. During the Christmas in August party later that day, a hot lasagna dinner was dished up for each family member. Additionally, each family was given a meatloaf dinner to take home and bake at another time. During the party, the students played a game and won a bag of snacks, they tried on their shoes and socks, they chose their gift from the Santa workshop table, and they picked out toiletries from the large assortment provided. A few older kids even composed a Christmas song. Tampa Elks helping at the party along with Sanchez and Weil were Rita Smith; Shelagh Gombarcik, PER; Patty Volpe, Youth Activities Lodge Chair; Whiz; and Jan Bertoch.