Our Military & Veterans

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Written by Becky Wills

Viera Elks Lodge #2817 partners with the VOA/SSVF (Volunteers of America/Supportive Services for Veterans Families) transitional housing program. They team the lodge with the veterans who are in need and who qualify for assistance. When the veteran is ready for permanent housing, the lodge provides the furniture needed to turn the new housing into a home using funds from the Focus Grant. The Focus Grant is funded by the Elks National Veterans Service Commission (ENVSC) and this year was for $10,000. It is specifically designed to address veterans’ homelessness. Since April 1, the lodge has provided 11 veterans with furnishings to complete their transition into permanent housing. In addition, they have provided emergency assistance to eight veterans. This support has included a week’s hotel rental for a veteran who lost his home in a fire, purchasing bicycles for two veterans so they could get to work, purchasing tools for a veteran so he could secure a job and paying for fumigation costs for a single mother with three children. These efforts were all made possible by the Focus Grant. They have also shopped for seven veterans for the Welcome Home Kit program which is also funded through the ENVSC and enables a lodge to take a veteran shopping for necessary household needs who is moving into permanent housing. The maximum per veteran is $300, and the lodge is reimbursed by the ENVSC. 

Veteran Greg Kellogg shops for tools using an ENVSC grant provided to Viera Lodge so he can maintain his new apartment.

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Written by Winter Park Elks

Elks National Veterans Service Commission (ENVSC) Representative Ron Goluba poses with Walmart employees Daisy, Dorothy and Joemary. They helped Goluba gather items needed by the veterans at Lake Baldwin VA Center and Lake Nona VA Center. A total of $3,000 was given to the ENVSC by Winter Park Elks Lodge #1830 for the purchase of items requested by each center. So many items were requested that it took two days, June 26-27, to shop for both VA centers.

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Written by Lakewood Ranch-Sarasota Elks

In May, Lakewood Ranch-Sarasota Elks Lodge #2855 and its Veterans Committee raised $10,000 for Southeastern Guide Dogs with a fundraiser dance. The fundraiser dollars were matched by the Heroes Council of Southeastern Guide Dogs, bringing the total donation to $20,000. The Heroes Council provides their trained dogs to veterans at no charge. This includes guide dogs, service dogs, facility therapy dogs, emotional support dogs and gold star family dogs. The check presentation was made at the Southeastern Guide Dogs facility in Palmetto, Fla., May 14.

Pictured at the Lakewood Ranch-Sarasota Lodge donation presentation to Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto, Fla., May 14 are (back row) members Frank Iannello, Dennis Dobbratz and Tom Sweeney. In the front row are Sean Brown of the Heroes Council of Southeastern Guide Dogs and guide dog, Pella; members Sue Iannello, Ken Latham, Charlotte Madar, Mary Bilkie, and Chuck Stolteben; and Chad Bouton of the Heroes Council of Southeastern Guide Dogs and his guide dog, Andros.

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Written by Crestview Elks

The Crestview Kiwanis Club hosted a Memorial Day ceremony May 27 at Live Oak Cemetery in Crestview, Fla. Crestview Elks Lodge Lecturing Knight, Shirley Johnson, and Exalted Ruler, Steven Piner, laid a wreath along with other community and veterans organizations.

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Written by Deep Creek Elks

On June 26, Deep Creek Elks Lodge #2763 used part of an Elks National Foundation Beacon Grant to take several veterans from the Douglas Jacobson Veterans’ Nursing Home to a Minor League baseball game between the Charlotte Stone Crabs and the Fort Myers Miracle. Lunch was provided along with cold drinks on a hot day. Lodge members PDD Kay Neilley, Karen Rohm, Carol Aitchison, PER Tom McClain, Ken Bacon, Joe Szych and Michael Balunas attended and assisted the veterans with lunch and spent time with them. Local high school student Michael Balunas, who had been a member of the Young Marines, also attended. He spent his time retrieving foul balls which he presented to the veterans. Arrangements were made by Joe Szych, Lodge Veterans Services Chairman.

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Written by Zephyrhills Elks

Zephyrhills Lodge donated household furnishings for Keith Dixon, the sixth veteran the lodge has helped after leaving the domiciliary to start a new life. Members Steve Czerneski, Richard Le Clair and PER Ken Fabiani picked up and delivered a bedroom dresser, sofa, two living room chairs, an office desk, three lamps, coffeemaker, toaster, panini maker, dishes, pots and pans, and other home comforts. The lodge also provided kitchen towels, dishcloths, bath towels, hand towels and washcloths. The best part of the day was when Dixon and his girlfriend saw the 43-inch flat screen television; they had smiles on their faces for ear to ear. A final surprise from the lodge was their donation of a 15-inch laptop so Dixon could continue his studies at home. Tears just filled his eyes with gratitude.

Zephyrhills Lodge members Steve Czerneski and PER Ken Fabiani, Veterans Chairman, deliver household furnishings provided by the lodge to Keith Dixon (center), a veteran moving into his new home after a stay at a domiciliary.