West Central District

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Written by Carol Lee Spages

During March and April, New Port Richey Elks Lodge #2284 collected numerous pieces of formal wear, shoes, jewelry and accessories and donated them to the Cinderella and Prince Charming Project. High school students who would not be able to afford to attend their prom because of the cost of the attire were invited to shop for their outfits at a local facility free of charge.

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Written by Rita Smith, PER

On April 13, Tampa Elks Lodge treated the Club Chivalry graduating seniors to a special luncheon at Fred’s Country Buffet. There were 21 students and three Elks in attendance. Before leaving, the Elks presented honor cords, which are worn during graduation, to the club officers, and Ms. Hand presented honor cords to the students who had been in her Avid class for four years.

 The group is pictured in front of the restaurant.

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Written by Brian LoVetere

Holiday Isles Lodge donated the use of its banquet room to the Santa’s Angels organization to host its annual volunteer awards ceremony. The lodge does this every year for them. The lodge received a sponsorship award for their yearly donation.

Pictured are lodge members Rich DeBlasio, Mike Brown, Paula DeBlasio and Sandra Gann.

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Written by Brian LoVetere

On March 7, Holiday Isles Lodge donated $1,000 from its charity account for a golf tournament sponsorship held by the Military Order of the World Wars and the Military Officers Association of America to benefit the Pinellas County Schools’ JROTC units.

Pictured are Noreen Hodges; LTC Steve Hodges, retired, MOWW and MOAA member and tournament chair; Paula DeBlasio and Bob Behm, lodge members; and LTC David Mason, MOWW.  

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Written by Brian LoVetere

On Feb. 23, Holiday Isles Elks Lodge #1912 presented a $5,520 donation to the Seminole High School Color Guard (SHSCG). These students have been servers for lodge events since they were in middle school. The lodge learned of a shortage in their annual donations and donated $5,000 from the charity account. The rest was donated by lodge members.

Pictured during a practice session for a state competition are color guard members Sophia Ridge, Gracie Evans, Lauren Basara, Arianna Rosado, Aubrey Murray, Selene Levith, Savannah Smith, Ava Engelberger, Hailey Westfall, Ella Picion, Maddie Vinci, Christina Hills, Tanner Diederich, Arianna Sterling and Courtney Kirouac. Also pictured are Paul Smith, incoming Exalted Ruler; Rhonda Smith, PER, District Vice President-elect; and members Regan Zink and Kristin Baker.

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Written by Rita Smith

On March 2, Tampa Lodge donated a Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus to each third grade student at Holy Trinity Lutheran School in Tampa, Florida. The dictionaries were purchased during the pandemic and could not be distributed when planned. The students were surprised to be allowed to put their name in the book and were excited to read the definitions, synonyms and antonyms. Lodge trustee Loyd Moore handed out the dictionaries while Rita Smith, Exalted Ruler, had the students look up three words.

Pictured are the students with Taylor Meyer, third grade teacher; Loyd Moore, lodge trustee; and Kelly Reilly, principal.