Vero Beach Elks #1774

On February 23rd, our Lodge held the ‘Biggest Event of the Year’.  The decorations set the mood for the evening, the music “The Solid Gold Dance Band” lived up to their name, Chef Don and his crew outdid themselves with a delicious meal.

The Silent Auction was a big hit and raised over $3000.00 for the Lodge. Thanks to all the members who donated items: bottles that was used to make up 8 different baskets of cheer.  The Art works, (2 Kinkade prints donated by Vic and Lil Diaz, a photo landscape by Suzane Kasven and others), a huge TV donated by Rich and Kathi Miller among other items, Lenox pieces, Handmade jewelry and other items by many donors, made for an impressive display.  Of course, our heartfelt thanks go out to all who bid on these items and congratulations to those who won their chosen items.

The Big Raffle raised just under $4000.00 for the Lodge.  Thank you to all who participated by purchasing or selling these tickets.  And a big smile and congratulations to our winners.

As for the dinner, what can I say? The food was superb!  We have received many compliments from our guests as to how much they enjoyed their dinner and the affair as a whole.  The music kept you dancing; and the company made for a fun evening.  The dinner and 50/50 raised another $2500.00 for the Lodge making the total monies raised at $9600.00 for the evening.  We still have the second Thomas Kinkade print which we intend to auction off online to hopefully bring this number to surpass the $10,000.00 mark.

A lot of time and effort was put in making this evening happen. Work started (would you believe in September of last year?) and continued right up to the clean up the morning after the dinner.

Pat and I as chairpersons would like to thank all the volunteers, who without their help, we could not have accomplished this wonderful night.

Volunteers:

Donna Schmidt,  Angie Moyer, Marilyn Mulhall, Lynn and Rich Bergeron, Robbie Friedman, Rick Clevinger, Moe Johns, Ray and Terry Ketcham, Ron Ebberly, Beth and Vern Lappenan, Rich and Kathi Miller, Mike Cambell, Carl Bauer and Nancy Roth, and our MC Jim Rannazzisi, ER and his First Lady Barbara. I know I might have missed a name or two, please forgive us if I did.

Whether you decorated, served, sold, or cleaned.  Whether you worked 50 hours or 1 hour, you are all thanked from the bottom of our hearts, we are so grateful for all the friends and fellow Elks that have become family to us.  The Lodge has become our home away from home and we look forward to serving you all for another year.  Of course, we will need lots of volunteers, remember, they are the backbone of any organization including our beloved Elks Lodge.

Thank you once again,

Pat and Paul Diaz, PER

El Schneider Event Chairpersons

Our 2019 Community Improvement Project is based out of Vero Beach Elementary School on Fridays from 11am to 1pm. We are going into our 4th year of being awarded between $8,000 – $10,000 dollars through the Impact Grant to fund the Positive Behavior Store, a.k.a. “The Elks Love Kids of Character Store,” with incentives, school supplies, and snacks for students who earn wampum in the classroom by improving behavior, good grades, or being polite. The School has gone from an F grade to a C+ in a few short years and the changes we have seen have been very positive due to our presence.

Debbie and Laurie McFadyen stock new items at the Positive Behavior Store

Student attendance is up, arguing is down, behavior has improved in the school and on the buses, students are more caring, and teachers are staying because of our program. I might write the grant but all the real success of this program is done behind the scenes in the classrooms through the teachers and support staff.

The Elks provide the means to be able to purchase the incentives but the local volunteers are the real role models for our children. They show them we care as a community by being there each Friday through out the year, and how to interact with adults in a store setting. They teach them math by showing them how to count the wampum they earn and how they can divide up their earnings at each of the tables. They praise the students for earning a large or a small quantity with hopes of encouraging them to earn more next time. I would like to thank all the volunteers for a job well done. You are amazing!

Michele Klager, Lisa Grandage and Karen Guidry display new uniforms for needy children

A special announcement was made last week, Principal Cynthia Emerson has awarded the title of, Volunteer of the Year” to Vero Beach Elk Member, Michele Klager, a ceremony will take place in April 2019.

The success of our program has brought some exciting additions to our lodge. Kards for Kids Texas Hold’em Tournament proceeds go to the Hibiscus House to fund a similar Positive Behavior Program for the rescued children and Paul and Pat Diaz made sure all 3rd graders in Indian River County received a new dictionary. These are all great projects and you can help just by volunteering.

PTA is stocking our school store with free books. Skate Factory is donating Skating Passes for the kids to earn. Dollar Tree has donated several large boxes of miscellaneous items to our cause. So, if we all work together we can really make a difference. Volunteering knits you into the community. Find a need and lend a hand. Your lodge needs you.

Michele Klager
Vero Beach Elks Impact Grant Manager
772-321-6704