The Elks Lodge of Plant City took a leap of faith and applied for a highly exclusive grant in hopes of developing a new program to help local youth.
Members of the group have worked off and on with Everyday Blessings, Inc. — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that cares for children up to age 17 as they wait for permeant placement in a home — for years. It’s an organization the Elks hold dear to their hearts, and when they heard of the many changes coming to the program, they decided to step in and help even though they weren’t sure where to start.
Shelly Carol, grant coordinator for the Plant City Elks Lodge, said they visited the Everyday Blessing facility back when it was in Thonotosassa and learned the property had been sold as the group was relocating to Lithia. The list of needs was extensive: the property needed upgrading, they needed assistance with moving and they were searching for stability inside the organization.
“This particular grant requires a lot of ongoing interaction with the population at need, and as we were looking at Everyday Blessings, we thought that group of children and their caretakers was a great group to qualify for this larger impact grant from the Elks National Foundation because they just needed everything the grant was made to help with,” Carol said. “It was also a good fit because we have a volunteer cook night once a week on Wednesdays, so on the same evening we can go ahead and prepare a meal for them for the weekend.”
The children who currently call the facility home are governed by a handful of caretakers. They receive routine meals throughotu the week, but on the weekends the caretakers are in charge of cooking for the youth. The Elks decided to assist with easing the burden and applied for a $10,000 grant through the national Elks organization. It’s a highly sought-after grant and while several lodges around the nation receive it every year, very few new grants are issued.
However, in a fortunate turn of events, Plant City was awarded the funds. That allows them to spend anywhere from $100 to $125 a week providing meals for the children and they can also use the budget to provide three celebrations a year. The plan is to have Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter parties for all involved and give out gift cards so they can purchase items that are not normally donated, like hygiene products.
Every Wednesday afternoon, a handful of Elks volunteers file into the kitchen and promptly get to work. They spend hours cooking not only the meals the members will eat that evening, but also a massive batch of food to store and deliver to Everyday Blessings.
Carol said they are meticulous in planning how the meals are prepared. They only cook food that will last for a few days, as the food is delivered on Thursday or Friday and will be eaten over the weekend by the children. If the menu for the Wednesday night event is not “kid-friendly” or will not keep long, the Elks use their weekly money to purchase “fun food” like pizza or pasta from a local restaurant to be delivered Friday night.
When cooking for the group, some members do the cooking and chilling and a handful of others deliver the meals over the course of the following two days.
The group is approximately eight weeks into the project so far and Carol said everything is running smoothly. They’ve started to receive some feedback from Everyday Blessings and they have extended their thanks to the group as well as shared some of their favorite parts. Fresh products like fruits and vegetables have been crowd-pleasers, so they’ve made sure they send as much as possible every week.
“The grant will last us for a full year,” Carol said. “We’re not really in need of any assistance with this particular activity, but I know Everyday Blessings still needs some assistance what with the move and their other changes. There’s definitely other ways for different organizations to get involved if others wish to help.”
For more information visit everydayblessingsinc.org or call 813-982-9226.