West Central District

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Details

Written by Tampa Elks

Using social media, Mary Win Wilson Proudfoot asked the community to help her teach her art classes at Robinson High School in Tampa, Florida. The county has a new hybrid virtual or classroom teaching platform and she felt a big-screen television would facilitate her teaching. Tampa Elks Lodge member Shelagh Gombarcik, PER saw the social media post and presented the project to the board of directors and  the membership who agreed to use the lodge’s charity fund to make the purchase which totaled $400. Gombarcik delivered the television and a wall mount to the school Aug. 27. Pictured are Gombarcik and Proudfoot.