NEWS
News from the Maine Elks AssociationElks National Foundation News & Announcements
The Elks National Foundation announced several items of interest for members and Lodges as part of their e-news feed. These include the announcement of their Annual Report for 2022-23, a New Gratitude Grant Bonus, and information on the ENF’s Scholarship Programs.
ENF Annual Report
The Annual Report for the Elks National Foundation 2022-23 has been made available. According to ENF Chairman James McQuillan (PGER), During the past year, the ENF allocated nearly $40 Million Dollars, directly to its programs, and not to administrative or fundraising expenses [like so many other charitable organizations]. Every dollar donated helps Elks build stronger communities. During the past year, the ENF helped more than 850 high school seniors afford their college education and instilled the value of practice and hard work in tens of thousands of young people through the Hoop Shoot program. In addition, the ENF provided 4,340 Community Investment Grants, and 1,541 Lodges received at least one of those grants. An average total of $8,120.40 was granted per participating Lodge.
Last year, 504 New MVS Scholarship Awards were provided to deserving high school seniors, and 24 Emergency Education Grants were given as well. Did you know that the ENF also offers to specialized scholarships for deserving Elk Scholars who are pursuing a medical degree or osteopathic medicine degree? In 2022, the ENF awarded 20 scholars with $22,000 scholarships through the Gunther & Lee Weigel Medical School Scholarships.
Last year, a total of 1,037 Lodges hosted a Hoop Shoot competition where 110,749 kids participated. The contests were run by 12,779 Elks and volunteers. A total of 72 finalists made it to the Nationals after competing at the Lodge, District, State, and Regional Competitions. The National Event took place at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
The ENF also funds the Elks National Veterans Service Commission, helping veterans in many ways, living up to the motto of “So long as there are veterans, the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks will never forget them.” Through this program, homeless veterans were provided with welcome home kits upon moving them from the street or shelter to a new home. A total of 2,416 Welcome Home Kits were provided. These are essential household items needed to start a new life in a place they can call home. They also provided Emergency Assistance to help veterans exit or prevent homelessness. A total of 563 veterans were assisted through this part of the program. There were also 600 Freedom Grants issued to help Lodges serve veterans and military members in need. The Classic Freedom Grant Spark for $1,000, and Freedom Grant Classic for $3,000 were offered to Lodges to support veterans in their communities. The ENVSC also had 607 Elk members stationed as Representatives and Deputy Representatives in more than 360 veterans facilities to provide monthly support.
Overall, the ENF received $10,395,849 in contributions, bequests, and grants, and gave out the following:
- Community Investment Grants (CIP) in the amount of $12,649, 018
- State Grants in the amount of $10,798,330 (Maine received $208,120 from ENF for MCCP, Scholarships, and Veterans last year not including CIP Grants)
- Scholarships in the amount of $4,309,828 (MVS, Legacy, and others)
- Veterans Service in the amount of $5,098,306 (Elks National Veteran Service Commission)
- Youth Programs in the amount of $2,285,890 (Hoop Shoot & Drug Awareness)
- Veterans National Memorial in Chicago in the amount of $931,219
- Other program expenses in the amount of $15,214
All of this with management and general expenses of $1,772,468 to operate the Elks National Foundation office and support the program nationwide through Elk Lodges and their volunteers. This represents only 1.9% of the total assets of the ENF.
New Gratitude Grant Bonus
Thanks to the increase in donations to the Elks National Foundation, a new Gratitude Grant Bonus has been added that is worth $500 dollars, bringing the total possible in Gratitude Grant & Bonuses to $4,000. The new bonus grant will require Lodges to increase their fundraising over the previous year by 10 percent. As an example, if your Lodge raised $1,000 dollars for the Elks National Foundation, to obtain the bonus, you would need to raise $1,100 this year to qualify. Other bonuses include the membership bonus for Lodges with more than 15 percent of their membership donating to the Elks National Foundation last year, a Fidelity Club Bonus for Lodges in which 5 percent of the prior year’s donors were members of the Fidelity Club, and an ENF Chairmans Challenge Bonus for achieving 550 points or higher in the previous fiscal year.
Scholarship Deadline Reminders
The Most Valuable Student Scholarship application deadline is November 13 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. The ENF will award 500 four-year scholarships—ranging from $1,000 per year to $7,500 per year—to the highest-rated applicants. This year, the top 20 MVS Scholarship Finalists will each receive a $30,000 Scholarship, increasing the guaranteed scholarships for every finalist by 50 percent. This will undoubtably cultivate better relationships amongst the MVS Scholars, create opportunities for more engaging programming, and allow for more Champions of the Order. In addition, as part of this program, the ENF provides 480 four-year scholarships in the amount of $4,000 to deserving Scholars who are the top applicants in each State. This means that the ENF provides $2,520,000 in MVS Scholarships. Members are encouraged to reach out to high school seniors in your life to apply!
As a member, do you have a child, grandchild, stepchild, step-grandchild, or legal ward who is a High School Senior? There’s also a special scholarship opportunity available only to dues-paying Elks who have been members prior to April 1, 2021. These are $4,000 Four-Year Scholarships ($1,000 per year). Maine will be awarded with four (4) Legacy Award Scholarships to deserving scholars in this program. This is a great program that is exclusively for the families of Elk Members, so we ask that you encourage the high school seniors in your family, or of your fellow Elks to apply for the Legacy Awards scholarship. Applications are due February 5, but check them off your list before the new year.
The Legacy Award can also be used as a recruiting tool for new members, as it is one of the benefits of membership. It must be noted that any member who joins, must have been a member for at least two years prior to the application being submitted, and should be in good standing in the current year. Over that two-to-three-year period, the new member should be encouraged to learn all that Elkdom has to offer, beyond the scholarship programs.
Using Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) to Support the Elks National Foundation
There’s a special way of supporting the Elks National Foundation only available to Elks older than 70.5. These are called Qualified Charitable Distributions, which are tax wise gifts made directly from an IRA to a charity of your choice. These gifts can help alleviate tax burdens by helping people meet required minimum distributions. If you or another member of your Lodge is interested, they can give a QCD to the Elks National Foundation Online or by calling the ENF Development Department at 773-755-4762. These are simply an additional way to support the program.
The State of Maine receives back from the Elks National Foundation $1.467 for every dollar the ENF receives from Maine Elks. That’s a great return on the investment of our donations, allowing Maine Elks to better serve their communities and allowing Elks to build stronger communities. For more information on the Elks National Foundation, visit Elks National Foundation on Elks.org
President Sandi’s Message for October ’23
Summer is over now, and here we go into fall and then winter. Time sure flies when you’re having a good time in Elkdom!
On my last report I forgot to mention our visit to York, and for that I apologize. Dave and I were met by ER John and he took us inside and introduced us to the members. He presented me with a beautiful necklace and Dave with a nice watch. Their Lodge has a few members from other states that happened to be in attendance and we got to meet them! They had a delicious Luau dinner and ended it with desert!
August 5th we went to the Augusta Lodge and were met by ER Tim and First Lady Vicki. They got us settled into our room where there was a beautiful basket of books, snacks, and beverages, but my favorite thing in it was a cutting board that had my name and State President engraved into it! After we rested for a short time, we went back to the Lodge for their Music Festival. All the bands were good but the treat of the night was the Bob Seeger Tribute band! After the group was done I got pictures with the band!! What a night!
Our next visit was on August 16th and we went to the Wells Elks Lodge and ER Melinda and First Man Richard greeted us at the door. They brought a chef up from Massachusetts who prepared a wonderful Italian meal for us and their members! They even let Tom Chase help cook and clean up!!! Melinda had a nice basket for us with Maine coffee mugs, two beautiful shirts embroidered with our Lodge and names on them, some scratch-off-tickets (that I won $50.00 on) and some nice beverages. To top the night off we had fresh strawberry shortcake!
August 24th, we headed up to The Forks to raise some money for the MCCP Kids. The weather Friday was pretty rough but no one let the rain dampen their fun. I hope to hear this coming meeting in Sanford what the total is for the event! As you well know I love raising money for our major project!
September 3rd, we drove the Camaro up to Bangor and entered it in to the Bangor Elks car show. We enjoyed the day walking around looking at all the old cars, a few of us were interviewed by WABI TV and after the car show hung out with everyone, enjoying a drink or two.
September 8th and 9th we attended the MCCP Golf Tournament in Sanford! PSP Bruce Brunelle met us at the campground to make sure we got settled in. Our cabin was so nice, and the lodge provided a nice basket of goodies. We sat out on the back porch and watched a storm come in, then went to the Lodge and had a nice dinner and raised some more money for the kids. The following day we went to the golf course where we met up with Bruce and Lisa Brunelle and cooked hot dogs for all the golfers. What a nice way to get to meet some of our fellow elks and raise some more money for the kids! We then had a nice meal at the golf course and went back to the cabin. There was quite a bit of money raised for the kids over the weekend but I do not want to say as I am sure the Sanford Lodge will be reporting on the totals soon. On our way home we stopped in Augusta and attended the drug awareness seminar.
Sept 22nd and 23rd we went to the Old Town Lodge, ER Debbie met us at the Black Bear Inn where she had arranged a beautiful room and had a nice basket for us along with some snacks and beverages. We also have new books to read and she also got us each a bell for our bikes to keep us safe! She took us downtown to meet up with her husband Randy, Mindy Voisine and Jeff Bosse to have a nice dinner at Kanu restaurant. We then went up to the rooftop to enjoy the beautiful evening and enjoy the fireworks. The next day Debbie picked us up for the parade. We all dressed up in different costumes of Lobsters and Light houses. And she had a lobster hat for each of us. And we rode on the float and had “bubble guns” to shoot bubbles at the kids to pop, and had beads to toss into the crowd. After the parade we went to their Lodge and had a good time catching up with some old friends and met new ones from the lodge membership. Of course, we had to play a few pull tabs! Mindy and Jeff took us back to the hotel for a rest, and picked us up again later for dinner and an evening at the Riverfest where Motor Boody Affair was playing and brought in quite a crowd
Sept 29th and 30th we drove to Houlton and met ER Elizabeth, Mike and Denise Hannigan and Mike Powers at the lodge. We stayed with Mike Powers for our visit which was nice of him to offer up his home. Mike and Denise came over to the house after we left the Lodge and we all enjoyed the beautiful charcuterie board full of about everything you could think of, along with a fruit bowl and some beverages. The following day Liz picked us up for Breakfast at Brookside Inn with Mike, Mike and Denise. Liz took us on a little tour of Houlton and then back to Mikes house for a break. Latr in the evening Liz picked us up for the Murder Myster Dinner back at the lodge. Denise had heard about Dave’s fall, and his stitches, and she incorporated it all into the Murder Mystery. In the end it turned out that Dave was the Murderer, who knew he had it in him?! The dinner, prepared by lodge members, was wonderful. We went back down to the lounge to visit more before going back to Mike’s. In the morning Mike cooked us a great breakfast before we left for home.
Thank you everyone for the great visits. It was a busy couple of months but we enjoyed every minute of it along the way.
Another Successful Weekend at The Forks
The Maine Elks Association MCCP/FORKS Steering Committee would like thank everyone that attended, donated or volunteered at our 3rd Annual Camping Weekend in the Forks, held from August 25th to the 27th at Three Rivers Whitewater in The Forks.
Incredible work by all Lodges on the Silent & Live Auctions! Collectively, we raised just over $24,000.00!!! The Augusta Elks took top honors with $3,462.00 fr their items. Second place was Waterville with $3,187.00 and with $3,076.00 Gardiner was third.
More than 250 Elks, representing 18 of our 20 Maine Lodges from across the state attended. It was an incredible weekend of fun and camaraderie, as we worked together towards the common goal of raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for our major state project, the Maine Children’s Cancer Program.
The Steering Committee, including representatives from many of our lodges, worked year-round planning and organizing this large off-site event. Everyone who came worked well together to ensure that this event was a huge success. Without their commitment and dedication, an event of this magnitude would not be possible. Collectively, over the three-day weekend Maine Lodges raised $61,221.73 for MCCP.
Congratulations and Thank You for your support!
Mark your calendars and Save the Date, for next year’s event, Thursday, August 22nd to Sunday, August 25, 2024
Elks Care ~ Elks Share
Fraternally yours,Co-Chairs: Mike “Shu” Michaud PER and Lina Cloutier Michaud PER
September MEA Calendars
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Sanford Elks Celebrate 30 years of MCCP Affiliation
The Sanford Elks Lodge #1470 has achieved a 30-year milestone supporting the Maine Elks State Major Project, the Maine Children’s Cancer Program; . which helps provide specialized care, psychosocial services, and research to help find a cure for childhood cancer and blood disorders.
This year’s fundraising events included an Ice Fishing Derby, our 14th annual Arnie’s Ride, the 500 Wish Club, our first Ray’s Day, and our 30th annual Golf Tournament which together allowed us to raise over $113,000 this year bringing our cumulative 30-year total to just under $3 million dollars!
On September 8th, we hosted a 30th Year MCCP Celebration! Many volunteers and sponsors of many of our fundraising events, elks members and members of the Maine Children’s Cancer Program helped us to celebrate this achievement. A great meal was served and a DJ provided music, followed by a special champagne toast by lodge PERs Mark Caron & Rick Drouin, Sanford Lodge’s MCCP committee co-chairmen, highlighting the 30 years of dedication.