On April 13, Brandon Elks Lodge #2383 and Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida, co-sponsored a homeless initiative outreach at the church. The lodge used approximately $700 from its $4,000 Elks National Foundation Impact Grant for hygiene items and food supplies as well as the luncheon provided for the attendees. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it had been more than a year since there was an outreach, and the community was ready and welcoming. The lodge’s Bags of Brotherly Love program helped with this event and distributed 125 bags of needed items to attendees experiencing homelessness. An additional 30 bags were given to the church to be distributed at the following day’s meal, and there were 36 bags given to sheriff’s deputies and law enforcement officers with the Tampa Police Department to carry in their vehicles in case the need arises for one for a client.

Lodge member Ed Campbell and his girlfriend, Elaine, worked the clothing table with the church's volunteers. Endorsed Southwest Central District Deputy, Sharon Hammersla, worked with Monica Rodriguez of Care Plus at the table handing out the Bags of Brotherly Love provisions. Care Plus, which is part of the Humana insurance company and is located in Tampa, donated water and items to include in the bags. They plan to donate water and drawstring bags for the next outreach as well. Lodge member Kathy Eldridge supplied baseball caps to be used for a future project that Hammersla and Robin Rutkze, Lodge Veterans Chair, have coordinated for veterans. Exalted Ruler Jim McCleary and his wife, Lara, took time out of their workday to join this event for a few hours to help distribute the bags and also escorted several of the attendees while they picked out their choice of clothing at the clothing tables.

In addition to member donations, Bags of Brotherly Love receives donations of food, socks and hygiene items from fellow partners for the homeless which help continue the mission of bringing dignity back to the lives of those less fortunate. Program founders, Bob and Elisa Blair, are appreciative of all who make donations to take on this much-needed project to show that “Elks Care – Elks Share.” The program also donates bags to organizations such as Gracepoint and DAACO that help the homeless population with housing and food assistance along with other necessary needs. Bob Blair adds, “During this COVID crisis when everything was supposedly shut down, we had more calls for our Bags of Brotherly Love bags from more new agencies and organizations that our grant monies are nearly depleted from just filling requests and making bags to distribute. I love what I do helping to bring dignity back into the lives of those less fortunate. I used to be one of those less fortunate, and God blessed me with another chance at life, and so I pay it forward every chance I get.”

To read more about Bags of Brotherly Love and how it got its start, please visit floridaelks.org/magazine and view the Spring 2017 issue.

Pictured are Bob Blair and Sharon Hammersla; Ed Cambell, Lara McCleary and Jim McCleary; and a  church volunteer guiding an attendee to the showers. Lodge members Monica Rodriguez, Lara McCleary, Sharon Hammersla and Bob Blair display one of the bags.