Local Elks support community, veterans

VW independent/submitted information

Local Elks lodges from every state nationwide, as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Panama Canal Zone, will be busy helping their communities this holiday season. Thousands of financially struggling families will receive food baskets and presents. 

Again this year, Van Wert Elks Lodge has participated in the Angel Tree Program to provide clothing items and toys to children in need within a community. Elk volunteers will visit thousands of hospitalized veterans who have protected Americans’ freedoms. The Elks vow: “So long as there are veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will never forget them.”  

The Elks support both active military forces and veterans. Elks furnish food, comfort care items, therapeutic items and gifts, host holiday celebrations and recreational activities at bases and hospitals, and stand ready to fulfill any need when called upon. Last year alone, the value of Elks’ contributions to the nation’s heroes provided more than $44 million to more than 300 Veterans Administration Medical Centers, clinics, and state care facilities. 

The Elks have entered into a partnership with VHA to support efforts for homeless veterans in their communities. To this end, the Elks have pledged $4 million to help end veteran homelessness. 

The Elks will receive thousands of scholarship applications in December from high school seniors across the nation, with nearly $5 million being distributed annually.

The Elks Community Investment Program will award nearly $15 million towards enriching local communities. Elks lodges nationwide donated more than $381 million last year to the communities they serve throughout the United States and its territories.  

This year, Van Wert Elks Lodge 1197 has been able to provide to the community $8,000 in monies they received in grants from the Elks National Foundation.  The funds were used to assist families and senior citizens in need.

There are 1,900 Elks Lodges across the country with a total membership nearing 800,000. Elk members must be American citizens who are at least 21 years of age and must believe in God.  

To learn more about the Elks, visit www.elks.org.  For information about joining the Elks go to www.join.elks.org.