West Central District

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Written by May Graci

St. Petersburg Lodge volunteers led by Todd Dourm, Penny Rase, Debbie Rase and Karen Purser raised $3,568 to donate to the family of fallen Pinellas County Deputy Michael Magli. Deputy Magli lost his life in the line of duty Feb. 17 after being struck by a fleeing driver. He is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and two young daughters. He was born in Ozone Park, New York, and came to the Tampa Bay area in 1994. Initially hired as a part-time criminal justice specialist, Deputy Magli transferred to a deputy recruit position and was assigned to the Patrol Operations Bureau in 2014. He served eight years with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. The donation was presented to the Magli family March 16 at a fundraiser held by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department at the Belleair Pelican Golf Club.

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Written by Rita Smith

On Feb. 24, Tampa Lodge partnered with private charter school Bridgeprep K-12 to hold a family literacy night. Florida State Elks Association-matched funds of their Elks National Foundation Beacon Grant were used for this project. Author David Green was hired to bring his children’s comic books and read them to the students. The event took part in two phases. At 3 p.m., all the middle school students were issued books and then they spread out on the lawn to read along with the author. They also received posters, bookmarks and autographs. At 4 p.m., the elementary school families were invited to attend for a similar safe outdoor event. Twenty-eight families attended with the students. The students in the after-school program also attended and received a book and participated in the reading. They also received a poster and bookmark from the author as well as a Drug Awareness bookmark. Green gave autographs as requested. The Elks even had cardboard picture books for the toddlers who came with their families. The Elks’ participation included the purchase of all the books and supplies, the refreshments and the volunteers to make it all come together. Shelagh Gombarcik, PER; Laura Jones, treasurer; Bonnie Atwood; Patty Volpe; Richelle Nickle; Mike Volpe; and Christien Elkins gave up their afternoon to help these children develop a love of reading. Elk Christine Harris is the principal at Bridgeprep, and she along with Suzanne Mizzi, assistant principal, made sure everything went smoothly. Pictured are Shelagh Gombarcik, PER; David Green, author; and Laura Jones, treasurer. David Green signs an autograph for a middle school student. Green hands out his books to the after-school students. Mike Volpe, Patty Volpe, Christien Elkins and Richelle Nickle are on the refreshment team. Students are gathered for the reading.

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Written by May Graci

St. Petersburg Elks Lodge #1224 had a dozen singing Valentine llama stuffed animals that they held back from the holiday Walgreens toy drive that they donated to the Salvation Army that were distributed to young children in their foster care homes Feb. 14 along with an assortment of Valentine sweets.

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Written by Rita Smith

For the 2020 Walgreens-Elks Community Gift Drive, Tampa Elks Lodge #708 collected toys from 15 stores Dec. 15. Laura Jones, Jeremy Elkins, Christien Elkins, PER Shelagh Gombarcik, Paul Deland, Wendy Hall, Tommy Moore and Rita Smith all participated in the pickups. By the end of the day, Youth Activities Chairs, Patty and Mike Volpe, had counted 924 toys. This was in addition to the dozens of toys Tampa Elks had donated. The Youth Activities Committee was overjoyed because they had many families that had asked for help. The Volpes developed a COVID-safe plan. On Dec. 19-20, the toys were displayed in the lodge room from noon until 8 p.m. Four families per hour were preregistered to come Christmas shop for their kids. They were not permitted to bring the children with them, but instead were each allowed to pick out three gifts plus a stocking stuffer for each of the children they had registered. Then, they were able to wrap the gifts right there with supplies donated by Elks and then load them into their car in an opaque bag. When done, the lodge had provided a good Christmas for 68 families with a combined 253 children. They did this with minimal staffing: the Volpes, Richelle Nickell, PER Shelagh Gombarcik, Candi Suhrheinrich, Evan Watts (Legacy Scholarship winner), two high school volunteers from the lodge-sponsored Club Chivalry, and non-Elk helpers Heidi and Paul and Theresa Bravo. There were still a couple hundred toys left Sunday night. Rita Smith and Bonnie Atwood gathered 80 toys to take to the Christmas tent run by Metropolitan Ministries, one of Tampa’s largest charities for families with children.

Pictured are:

PER Shelagh Gombarcik unloading gifts

Happy mother selecting gifts

Two ladies wrapping gifts

 Patty Volpe handling paperwork

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Written by Kara Suddards

On Jan. 23, Seminole Elks Lodge #2519 donated its Elks National Foundation Spotlight and Beacon grants along with the Florida State Elks’ matching Beacon Grant for a total of $9,000 to Santa's Angels charity in Indian Rocks, Florida. Wally Hawthorne is the founder of this organization that helps families at Christmas as well as throughout the year by providing food boxes, household supplies, and clothing and baby supplies. Hawthorne is a member of Holiday Isles Elks Lodge and was so grateful for this donation. Pictured with him is Kara Suddards, Exalted Ruler.

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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.