Elks Elevate America in December
Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge (“Elks Lodge”) like other Elks Lodges from every state, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Panama Canal Zone will help our communities during this holiday season. During December, Elk volunteers will provide food, fun and gifts to the many “Special Kids”, those families in need in our communities and visit thousands of hospitalized Veterans.
In December, the Elks Lodge will host their annual Christmas party for the “Special Kids”, distribute toys to the Orange County Rescue Mission, visit the Long Beach Veterans Hospital with gifts and Christmas treats, send gifts to active military currently serving our country and perform other acts of community giving.
For Elks, helping their communities is a year round effort. The Elks Community Investment Program will award more than $8 million towards enriching our communities. Additionally, the Elks award college scholarships across the nation totaling more than $4 million.
For the communities in the Saddleback Valley, the Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks has contributed many thousands of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours for youth (scholarships, scouts, dictionaries, athletic programs, drug awareness, etc.), “Special Kids”, active military and veterans and those in need. Elks furnish food, comfort care items, therapeutic items and gifts, host holiday celebrations and recreational activities at bases and hospitals, and stand ready to fulfill any need when called upon.
Last year alone, the value of Elks’ contributions to the nation’s heroes provided more than $33.4 million to more than 300 Veterans Administration Medical Centers, clinics, and state care facilities, as well as to the homeless Veterans. The Elks vow “So long as there are Veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks will never forget them.”
The Mission Viejo / Saddleback Elks Lodge No. 2444, celebrating forty-four (44) years of service to the Saddleback Valley communities, is one of ten lodges in the Orange Coast District of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) whose headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois. The BPOE is a charitable organization with a 146 year history of giving, “Elks Care, Elks Share.”
Hal Mattson, Lodge Publicity
Mission Viejo / Saddleback Valley Elks Lodge No. 2444
