Elks give to YWCA Summer Food Program

VW independent/submitted information

Van Wert Lodge 1197, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks recently donated $2,000 to the YWCA of Van Wert County for its Summer Food Program. This is the 25th year the YWCA has run this important program. 

The monies are from a Spotlight Grant the lodge received from the Elks National Foundation. The Elks National Foundation is a perpetual trust fund established in 1928 by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.   Contributions to the Foundation are made each year by almost 1 million Elks and their families and friends from more than 2,000 Elks lodges across the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.  

This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the YWCA is packing and distributing breakfast and lunch meals for the week every Monday.   

Every Thursday, YWCA staff and volunteers pack and distribute Grab and Go Bags that contain food for the weekends. The program is open to any child under the age of 18 and no registration is required. The Summer Food Program runs from June 1 through July 27.

Van Wert Elks Lodge, in addition to the donation of monies, has members volunteering to package and distribute the meals.