West Central District

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Written by May Graci

In the hustle and bustle of nabbing deals and buying new clothes for the new school year, an often overlooked reality is that many kids are without the basic back-to-school necessities such as pens and pencils, notebooks, crayons, handwriting paper, watercolors, colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, highlighters, plastic supply boxes, dividers, tissues, hand sanitizer and gallon-sized zip-top bags. To help give children the tools they need to succeed, St. Petersburg Lodge and its members donated supplies that were distributed to two neighboring schools, Azalea Elementary and Westgate Elementary. Each school received over $300 worth of school supplies which will go to teachers and students. Exalted Ruler, Dawn Elaine Lieber, said, “We know there are several families in these schools that have unfortunate financial needs and we just want to give the kids a good start. Something as simple as having school supplies really helps to make sure our kids are happy as they start the new school year.”

Yaritza Ramos, Family/Community Liaison, accepts school supply donations for Azalea Elementary from St. Petersburg Lodge from member Debby Schmid and Exalted Ruler, Dawn Elaine Lieber.

Fifth-grade teacher Tara McClintick is pictured with St. Petersburg Lodge members Debby Schmid and Dawn Elaine Lieber as they deliver school supplies from the lodge to Westgate Elementary.

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Written by May Graci

St. Petersburg Lodge has been donating the use of their pool on a monthly basis to Dive Care, a nonprofit Florida corporation. Dive Care is comprised of a group of certified scuba diving instructors and dive buddies who teach prospective divers and dive instructors. Their programs are available to any child, adult or veteran with a disability with the intention of providing both physical and psychological therapeutic value to each person.

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Written by May Graci

On Aug. 4, St. Petersburg Lodge raised $500 for MYcroSchool Pinellas to help with uniform shirt expenses for their students. MYcroSchools are charter high schools in Florida that are tuition-free. MYcroSchool offers flexible schedules so students can work at their own pace and finish high school under any situation. Their small class sizes allow teachers to focus on students who need help the most. This individual attention ensures students are not left behind and finish high school on time. Exalted Ruler, Dawn Elaine Lieber, said, “It feels great to lend a helping hand so that students can concentrate on school when it starts next week and not be worrying about uniform shirt expenses.”

1224 Mycro: Pictured at the donation presentation from St. Petersburg Lodge to MycroSchool Pinellas Aug. 4 are Dawn Elaine Lieber, Exalted Ruler, and lodge members Traci Cain Steen and PER George Povelitis.

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Written by May Graci

On July 30, St. Petersburg Elks were busy delivering their Christmas-in-July gifts to 19 children at Sallie House. Head elf and Exalted Ruler, Dawn Elaine Lieber, received a Christmas wish list from the kids that she was thrilled to fulfill. At a value of $400, the children were each given an outfit, undergarments, scented hand sanitizer, body lotion and body spray. Sallie House is a safe haven for children ages infant to 17 who have been removed from their home because of abuse, neglect or abandonment.

Exalted Ruler, Dawn Elaine Lieber; Lecturing Knight, Sharon Literski; PDD Toni Goodrich; Inner Guard, Jeannie Sninchack; and Jan Durbin Giallourakis delivered Christmas-in-July gifts to children staying at Sallie House July 30.

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Written by May Graci

St. Petersburg Elks Lodge #1224 donated the use of its hall (a $500 value) to Music Sweet Music Inc. (MSM), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps children and adults with disabilities reach none-musical goals such as speech, hand-eye coordination, and increase of range of motion as well as assisting with many other disabilities and disorders by contract board-certified music therapists. The chair for the event was St. Petersburg Lodge member May Graci who also volunteers with MSM. The fundraiser was a jukebox bingo that lasted two hours with attendees winning donated prizes each time their musical bingo card won. Lodge member Kat Chaplin donated a handmade quilt. Over 110 people attended the event and over $2,000 was raised.

Pictured at the Music Sweet Music fundraiser held at St. Petersburg Lodge are Nuala Cunard, 2nd Vice President of Music Sweet Music Inc.; Theodore Wagner, President and founder; and May Graci, chairman and volunteer for the event.

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Written by May Graci

St. Petersburg Lodge donated 25 Easter baskets to The Sanderlin Center, a nonprofit agency located in south St. Petersburg, Fla. The center’s focus areas are family, education, arts, economics, employment, positive values, and health and wellness. The Easter baskets were put together with a wide variety of holiday candies, stuffed animals and other items to be inclusive of the different age groups serviced at the agency, including teens.