Many of the children in our community are able to receive low-income meals during the school week, but when the weekend and school breaks roll around, a little extra help from a Share Bear can make the difference. The Share Bear Snack Pack program aims to ensure every child has enough to eat by providing child-friendly, nonperishable food items they can take home every Friday. The grant, totaling $10,000, will help to support the 130 children at Madison Elementary School who receive Snack Packs every week.
This is the fourth year the Lodge has been awarded the Community Impact Grant from the Elks National Foundation. In total, 174 Lodges applied for the 2012 grants, and 53 were awarded, with only 3 in Oregon. The Elks National Foundation Community Impact Grants range from $2,500 to $10,000, and Coos Bay Elks Lodge has been awarded the maximum amount every year since 2009, when they were the first Lodge in Oregon to receive the grant. In addition to these grants, the Coos Bay Elks Lodge has already raised an additional $11,000 on their own!
The Coos Bay Elks Lodge has not only been a significant funder of the Share Bear Snack Pack Program, but its members regularly volunteer with the program to assemble all of the Snack Packs that go out to over 700 kids on the South Coast every week!
"Oregon Coast Community Action is extremely grateful for everything the Elks Lodge has done to support the Share Bear Snack Pack Program," says Becky Yaeger, Snack Pack Coordinator. "It is truly fun to get a chance to work with such an upbeat and selfless group of individuals!
Oregon Coast Community Action is a non-profit network of programs that help feed, house, warm and educate the communities of the South Coast. For more information on ORCCA or the Share Bear Snack Program, please call (541) 435-7080 or learn more at www.orcca.us. For information on the Coos Bay Elks Lodge, please call (541) 266-7320.
Interviews Available: Rebecca Yaeger, Snack Pack Program Coordinator
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
