Sweet Home Elks Lodge members showed up at the School District headquarters on Dec. 15 to deliver supplies requested by teachers who’d been asked what their needs were.
Donated items included clothing and footwear for needy students as well as specific items such as a white board requested by one teacher and a pencil sharpener requested by another.
The event was part of the Elks’ donation effort to local schools, which includes the lodge’s Back-To-School Fair school carnival in September, during which local school children are treated to food, games and a chance to win prizes for their schools at the lodge.
This is the sixth year the lodge has made the school donations in these ways.
According to Sharon Conner, a school district staffer who is also an Elks member, Terry Layman does the required paperwork to receive the $4,500 in grant funds that pay for the donations.
Money not spent on the Back-to-School Fair goes to purchase school supplies and basic need items for students, such as shoes, socks, sweat pants, underwear, etc, that the students may need when they arrive at school.
“It’s pretty neat to watch as some of this will help out the schools who have low attendance,” Conner said.
She said the school homeless advocate is “very involved in letting us know what is needed.”
The Elks’ Community Investments Program invests $12.3 million in Elks communities across the country through Lodge grants that help Elks meet local needs, according to the organization’s website. There are six named grants – all with different areas of service.
The Elks National Foundation Board of Trustees approved appropriations and distributions for the 2017-18 fiscal year totaling $33.14 million.