Lake Okeechobee Elks Lodge #2871 continues to enrich the lives of students, veterans and the community with fun and exciting events. The lodge hosted ice cream socials at local elementary schools for 545 second-grade students as a reward to kids who read the book gifted to them by the lodge, "B is for Buckaroo," purchased with the Beacon grant.
Most recently, Lake Okeechobee Lodge has been working with the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office to ensure the local D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program remains in the community. The D.A.R.E. program is administered in all elementary schools, both public and private, for the fifth grade. This year through a $2,000 Gratitude grant is helping the D.A.R.E. program with the local budgeting needs.
Lake Okeechobee Lodge members present a donation to D.A.R.E. Front row: Dera Muszick and Shirley Matson. Back Row: Sheriff Noel Stevens, OCSO; Michelle Harper-Krnotch, Exalted Ruler; Bill Yomello, Trustee; Patty Walter, Treasurer; Cliff Matson, Trustee; Ernie Basil, PDD; and Sgt. Michael Hazelief, OCSO.