The Results Are In!!

Volume 67, Number 12 Published Monthly

March 2021 755 N. River Rd. Cottage Grove, OR 97424 541-942-3554 elks1904@ymail.com Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks of the United States of America ~ A Fraternal Organization

The Results Are In!!

Congratulations to all of our 2021-2022 Officers!

With luck this year we can open and enjoy all of our events and each other’s company as we attend meetings and gather for meals, games, karaoke, etc. The Installation of Officers will be held on March 20th at 4:00pm and all members are invited to attend.

Should we still be under Extreme Level for COVID-19, this will be cancelled and other ar-rangements made to get our newly elected officers installed.

Center Picture: Marie Ammon, Exalted Ruler Elect

Just below cen-ter left to right: Carol Little, Es-teemed Loyal Knight Elect; Varc Jones, Es-teemed Leading Knight Elect; Mo-na Dunlap, Es-teemed Lectur-ing Knight Elect Clockwise from center top; Mike McCarty, 3 Year Trustee; Walter “Shorty” Berry, 2 Year Trustee; Randy Pitcher, 1 Year Trustee; Bill Jones, Treasurer; Jesi Arnold, As-sistant Tiler; Tere-sa Simons, Tiler, Colette Arnold, Inner Guard; Wynne Schu-macher, Chap-lain; Ralph Din-nel, Esquire; Lin-da Renfroe, Sec-retary; Dalton Perry, 5 Year Trustee; and Tim Horn, 4 Year Trus-tee.

Gazette Page 2 ~ March 2021

Cottage Grove Lodge #1904

PO Box 564, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 (541) 942-3554

elks1904@ymail.com Lodge Secretary Hours: Wed/Thurs/Fri 1pm to 4pm

2020-2021

Lodge Officers & Trustees

OFFICERS

Exalted Ruler Ralph Dinnel Leading Knight Elisha Lea Loyal Knight Marie Ammon (PER) Lecturing Knight Carol Little Esquire Allen (Varc) Jones Chaplain Open Position Inner Guard Colette Arnold Tiler Teresa Simons Secretary Linda Renfroe Treasurer Bill Jones (PER)

TRUSTEES

Trustee 5yr Tim Horn (PER, PDDGER) Trustee 4yr Mike McCarty (PER, PDDGER) Trustee 3yr Walter “Shorty” Berry Trustee 2yr Randy Pitcher (PER) Trustee 1yr Dalton Perry

District Chairman

Officer Training Mike McCarty (PER, PDDGER) Golf Randy Pitcher (PER) Drug Awareness Marie Ammon (PER) Meadowood Linda Renfroe Accident Prevention Mona Dunlap (PER) Bulletins Elisha Lea

Oregon State Elks Association (OSEA)

6950 SW Hampton St Ste 232, Portland, OR 97223 (503)716-8668 osea2@outlook.com PSP Pat Donohoo (PER) OSEA State Trustee,

Mediator Tim Horn (PER, PDDGER)

Grand Lodge

South Central DDGER David Whitlock whitd74@gmail.com PDDGER Mike Heckman (PER) PDDGER Mike McCarty (PER) PDDGER Tim Horn (PER)

This bulletin is published monthly for the Cottage Grove Elks Lodge #1904

Deadline for submitting articles is listed on the calendar.

Items can be submitted via email to our editor Colette Arnold at

colettec.arnold@gmail.com (541-246-5588). Please put Cottage Grove Elks in the subject line. All advertising artwork should be submitted as a JPEG, all other submissions can be

sent in the body of an email or in Word.

Past Exalted Rulers

*Orlo Bagley, 1953-1954 *Arthur Nolt, 1955 *Edward Hoover, 1955-1956

*Cecil Gum, 1957 *Carl "Ed" Jones, 1958

*David Slayton, 1959 *Dean Webb, 1960 *Lyle Horn, 1961 *Dan Andrieson, 1962 *Mac McIntire, 1962 *Walt Allen, 1963 *Harry Gibson, 1964 *Fred Langston, 1965 *Jack W. King, 1966 *Gordon Elfving, 1967 *Hubert Leuck, 1968 Gary Anderson, 1969 *Joe King, 1970 *Walter Dix, 1971 *Bill Denham, 1972 *Larry Hill, 1973 *Jim Mathews, 1974 Dick Gilkison, 1975 Jim Hoover, 1976 *Harold Hurst, 1977 *Ron Johnson, 1978 Roy Rowlett, 1979 *Tom Clontz, 1980 Mike Heckman, 1981 Mike McCarty, 1982 Mike McCarty, 1983 *Gordon Nyleen, 1984 Mike McCarty, 1985 Rick Carlton, 1986 Tim Horn, 1987 Alan Snyder, 1988 Pat Donohoo, 1989 *Dave Clark, 1990 Ken Massingale, 1991 Jerry Bakke, 1992 Wayne Wiscarson, 1993 *Chuck Fritz, 1994 Mike Jacobson, 1995 Tim Horn, 1996 Merv Kwandt, 1997 Ken Ward, 1998 *Keith Davis, 1999 Bryan Nelson, 2000 Dan Coonrod, 2001 Russ Alexander, 2002 Randy Pitcher, 2003 *Chuck Fritz, 2004 Dan Coonrod, 2005 *Terie Harrison (Bruley), 2006

Chris Carroll, 2007 John Silva, 2008 Dan Coonrod, 2009 Jerry Kerns, 2010 Clint Johnson, 2011 Francis Koster, 2012 *Beverly Adams, 2013 Eddie Bock, 2014 Bill Jones, 2015 Donn Merrick, 2016 Aaron Kitterman, 2017 Marie Ammon, 2018 Mona Dunlap, 2019 *Deceased Charity Justice Brotherly Love & Fidelity

Attention Members

! Find your membership number printed somewhere in this bulletin OR have a Birthday this month to receive a FREE BEVERAGE!

Exalted Ruler’s Message

2020-21 Exalted Ruler

Ralph Dinnel

March brings the end of the Elks year and the end of my year as the Exalt-ed Ruler. As we are all aware it was a crazy year for all of us.

While COVID-19 has limited the social activities of the lodge, it has not 3289 stopped us from supporting our com-munity. We also were able to raise about $1700 for the Pearl Harbor Pro-ject and $850 for the victims of the wildfires.

Many projects were completed dur-ing the year, a few of the notable projects was a complete cleaning and painting of the Emblem Room and kitchen. The front of the Lodge has been repainted and all of the ceiling tiles have been replaced in the lounge.

Carol and I want to thank each and everyone of you for your support. It is the members of this lodge that make it such a special place to be a mem-ber.

While I will no longer be the Exalted Ruler, that doesn't mean that I won't still be involved. I am planning on still being involved in Bingo and Bingo burgers along with helping with some of the dinners and who knows what else will come up as well.

Please support the new crew of offic-ers in the coming year; it takes all of us working together to make a differ-ence in our Lodge and Community.

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

All members who have volunteered during

the past year are invited to celebrate the accomplishments of their hard work at a

din-ner on March 27th at 6:00 pm. The lodge will open at 5:00pm.

Membership Report

Beginning Membership Total on 4/1/20: 340 Initiated, Affiliated, Reinstated to date: 13 Dropped, Transferred, Deaths to date: 9 Membership Total to date: 344

Gain/Loss: +5 Delinquency: 44 Lapsation Rate: 12.94% Applications on Hand: 7 Life Members: 33

Honorary Life Members: 1 Life Percentage: 10%

— Submitted by Linda Renfroe, Lodge Secretary

~ Membership ~

The following have been proposed for membership in our Order, or are seeking transfer/reinstatement:

By Initiation:

Nancy Rife - Proposed by Linda Renfroe By Reinstatement or Transfer: Don Miller - Proposed by Ralph Dinnel Applications for Life Membership

None at this time

March Birthdays

Receive a free beverage this month!

2nd: Wilber Koehn, James Martin, 3rd: Duane Galdabini, Vergil Hughes, 5th: Charlene Kerns, 7th: Charles Hopkins, 10th: Stanley Owens, 12th: Ralph Clarke, Daniel Nord, 19th: Brooks Hayes, Elmo Langham, 21st: Henery Yoss Jr., 22nd: Darlene Middleton, Rod Shields 23rd: David Spriggs, 24th: Tony Fuller, David Hartness, 31st: George Spriggs, Thomas Miller.

Sickness & Distress…



Please keep our members and their families in your thoughts and prayers.



Nick Venice said he is doing better from his stroke.

GOLF CART FEES are DUE!

Golf Cart Fees are $50 without an Invoice or $55 with an Invoice payable by October 1st.

If you are currently past due, please bring your account current.

For questions, please contact Shorty Berry at 541-546-8008.

We are again doing the “Early Bird Contest” for $100.00 to be drawn the first Thursday meeting in April, by our new Exalted Ruler.

This is also the LAST CALL for 2020

-2021 dues for Delinquent members. The amount due is $83.15 payable before March 31st. If not paid, you will be dropped.

Secretary

Linda Renfroe

Vacant Chair…



Please keep our members and their families in your thoughts and

prayers.



Hans (Mike) Johnson Jr.

Gazette Page 4 ~ March 2021 Lodge Committees

Auditing and Accounting Louis Roner Activities Elisha Lea Fraternal Ralph Dinnel Accident Prevention Dalton Perry PER Association Randy Pitcher Standing Relief Ralph Dinnel Public Relations Elisha Lea Community Projects and

Activities Elisha Lea Youth Activities Vacant Hoop Shoot John Baker Drug Awareness Mona Dunlap Americanism Marie Ammon ENF Marie Ammon Flag Day Carol Little Elks Memorial Day Carol Little Membership Linda Renfroe Veterans Service Ralph Dinnel Should you have questions and need to reach a Chairperson, please call the Lodge and the message will get to the right person.

For the month of March I have selected my right hand officer for the year, Elisha Lea. Elisha has been extremely helpful to me during the year. She took charge of getting all of the grants submitted, allowing us to help our local area charities. When the wildfires came, she raised money for those displaced by them. And started doing an Italian Dinner on the second Friday of the month.

It has been my pleasure to sit the Esteemed Loy-al Knight chair for 2020--2021. Thank you! It was a

hard year, not being able to hold all meetings and events, Let's hope that in 2021-2022 we are able to see the smiling faces of the members and enjoy all the events.

Remember dues are due the 1st of April and we are still doing the “Early Bird” drawing. So pay your dues paid by April 1st.

Loyal Knight

PER Marie Ammon This will be

my last arti-cle. I want to thank everyone for all the guidance and support you have given me the past few years. It was an honor to be an officer of the Lodge and to be a part of such a great organization. Being an Elk is still the best choice I made.

I am stepping away from being an officer for my children. Most of you know that I have 4 of my 5 children still at home with me. I am needed more at home right now, so I have had to make the difficult choice.

Remember that March is the last month of our fis-cal year. I want to thank our Ex-alted Ruler,

LeadingKnight

Elisha Lea

Ralph Dinnel, for his support throughout the year. I know that we were closed for most of the year, but Ralph and all of the vol-unteers made sure that the lodge was taken care of. New ceiling tiles in the lounge, the kitchen and Emblem Room were deep

cleaned and painted, and the bottles and cans crew were still working all year long to help keep the lodge going. Our Lodge has the best members and volunteers. I wish all the new officers the best of luck in the upcoming 2021 - 2022 year. Stay strong and togeth-er you will succeed.

Again, thank you all for everything. Can’t wait to see you all again. This has been a very difficult year for us. We have been closed for most of the year. There is one person that I know we can all agree on who has volunteered his time and energy to make sure the Lodge was maintained and well cared for. So, for my last time

choosing the Volunteer of the Month, I can’t see anyone more de-serving of this than our own Exalted Ruler, Ralph Dinnel. He has spent countless hours at the Lodge despite the pandemic. I am honored to be his Leading Knight and friend. No one deserves this more than you. Thank you for being my mentor and leader. Congratulations on your year and being the March Volunteer of the Month!

By Ralph Dinnel Exalted Ruler

By Elisha Lea Leading Knight

Lodge Committee

Reports

ment of Veterans Affairs offers a caregiver support program. While this program does not offer any monetary support to caregivers, they are provided with a free sup-port line and a caregiver supsup-port coordinator to help navigate mili-tary benefits and the stress of care-giving.

Death Benefits When a veteran dies, families have a few unique benefits available to them. A U.S. flag may be requested to drape over the casket 2211 and families may request a Presidential Memo-rial Certificate to honor the de-ceased loved ones service. The Department of Veterans Affairs also provides free headstones or grave markers.

Non-College Degree Programs/ Certificates In addition to receiv-ing credits to use towards a col-lege degree, the GI Bill is available for training certification courses or other vocational training programs such as HVAC repair, truck driving, emergency medical training, and barber/beautician school. This benefit will work well for veterans who wish to change careers or pursue a career path that does not require a college degree. Other non-college degree pro-grams are available through the VET TEC program which offers “accelerated training in coding bootcamps” or similar information science programs, software train-ing, etc. Lastly, there are several free IT certifications available to veterans. Transferring GI Bill® Credits Unused credits through the GI Bill may be transferred to spous-es and dependents of veterans. There are service limits required to transfer the benefits.

Free Tax Preparation Veterans and their family have access to free tax preparation services through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance offices on military bases.

The individuals who work in the offices have expertise working with the complicated nature of military-related tax issues. Life Insurance Many veterans have trouble obtaining traditional life insurance, particularly if they sustained an injury during their time of service. Through the Ser-vicemembers’ and Veterans’ Group Life Insurance program, veterans may receive up to $400,000 in life insurance. This pro-gram also offers competitive pre-mium rates. Veterans having trou-ble making their mortgage pay-ments are eligible for repayment assistance through the Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs. Options for help include special repay-ment plans, loan forbearance and loan modification programs. Additional benefits are available for veterans with VA loans and for homeless veterans.

VA Foreclosures The VA maintains a list of homes serviced by VA loans that have gone into foreclo-sures. Veterans have the ability to search the list of VA acquired properties and purchase homes at a discount. You do not have to be a veteran to search the prop-erties, but all properties qualify for VA financing.

American Corporate Partners connects veterans with top com-panies to help them obtain a job after their time of service. Along with being connected to job portunities, veterans have the op-portunity to receive one-on-one mentoring and other career de-velopment services. Read more: https://militarybenefits.info/10- veterans-benefits-you-may-not-know-about/#ixzz6jpZ7kYk1 Military Benefits

Military Benefits Information for US Military, Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard

Veterans–

Submitted by Marie Ammon, PER

10 Veterans Benefits You May Not Know About by Military Benefits

Many veterans know about the basic health care and education benefits available to them

through the Department of Veter-ans Affairs: Tricare and the GI Bill.--- While these benefits alone are substantial, numerous other pro-grams help provide more benefits to veterans and their families. Even within the health care and education programs are little-known benefits to improve the lives of veterans and help ease the financial burden of medical care or other expenses. Here are 10 veterans benefits you haven’t heard about that all veterans should see if they qualify for. Long-term Care Long-term care is expensive, but often necessary to provide care for aging rela-tives. Through the Aid and At-tendance program, many veter-ans are eligible to receive money to cover the cost of nursing homes, assisted living programs and other long-term care op-tions. With the ability for

couples to receive up to $25,020 a year, the Aid & Attendance benefit will help take care of a significant portion of long-term care costs. Surviving spouses of veterans are also eligible to re-ceive up to $13,560 a year to cover their long-term care costs. Caregiver Support Should you choose to take care of an ailing Veteran at home, the

Depart-Gazette Page 6 ~ March 2021 heart attack.

MDMA (Ecstasy or Molly): You may feel confused for a long time after you take it and have prob-lems with attention, memory, and sleep.

LSD: Your emotions may change quickly, and you might not be able to recognize reality; frighten-ing flashbacks can happen long after use.

Inhalants: Your heart, kidneys, lungs, and brain may get dam-aged; even a healthy person can suffer heart failure and death within minutes of sniffing a lot of an inhalant.

Many drugs can also make driving a car unsafe. Marijuana can slow reaction time, make you judge time and distance poorly, and decrease coordination (how you move your body). Cocaine and methamphetamine can make a driver aggressive and reckless. Certain kinds of sedatives, called benzodiazepines, can make you dizzy or drowsy. These effects can lead to crashes that can cause injuries and even death. What is drug addiction?

Drug addiction is when you can’t stop taking the drug even if you want to. The urge is too strong to control, even if you know the drug is causing harm. The addiction can become more important than the need to eat or sleep. The urge to get and use the drug can fill every moment of your life. The addiction replaces all the things you used to enjoy. A person who is addicted might do almost any-thing—lie, steal, or hurt people— to keep taking the drug. This can lead to problems with your family and

friends, and can even lead to ar-rest and jail. You can get addict-ed to illegal drugs as well as pre-scription drugs if you misuse them. Drug addiction is a chronic dis-ease. That means it stays with you for a long time, even if you stop using for a while. It doesn't go away like a cold. A person with an

addiction can get treatment, but quitting for good can be very hard.

Can I just use willpower to stop us-ing drugs?

At first, taking drugs is usually your choice. But as you continue to take them, using self-control can become harder and harder; this is the biggest sign of addiction. Brain studies of people with addiction show physical changes in parts of the brain that are very important for judgment, making decisions, learning and memory, and con-trolling behavior. Scientists have shown that when this happens to the brain, it changes how the brain works and it explains the harmful behaviors of addiction that are so hard to control. What makes people more likely to get addicted to drugs?

Trouble at home. If your home is an unhappy place, or was when you were growing up, you might be more likely to have a drug problem. When kids aren't well cared for, or there are lots of fights, or a parent is using drugs, the chance of addiction goes up. Mental health problems. People who have untreated mental health problems, such as depres-sion or anxiety, or untreated atten-tion-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely to become addicted. They might use drugs to try to feel better.

Trouble in school, trouble at work, trouble with making friends. Fail-ures at school or work, or trouble getting along with people, can make life hard. You might use drugs to get your mind off these problems.

Hanging around other people who use drugs. Friends or family mem-bers who use drugs might get you into trouble with drugs as well. For further reading please visit:

https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug- topics/criminal-justice/science-drug-use-discussion-points

Drug Awareness -

Submitted by

Marie Ammon, PER

Why do people use drugs?

People use drugs for many reasons: they want to feel good, stop feeling bad, or perform better in school or at work, or they are curious be-cause others are doing it and they want to fit in. The last reason is very common among teens. Drugs ex-cite the parts of the brain that make you feel good. But after you take a drug for a while, the feel-good parts of your brain get used to it. Then you need to take more of the drug to get the same good feeling. Soon, your brain and body must have the drug just to feel normal. You feel sick, awful, anxious, and irritable without the drug. You no longer have the good feelings that you had when you first used the drug. This is true if you use illegal drugs or if you misuse prescription drugs. Mis-use includes taking a drug different-ly than how your doctor tells you to (taking more or crushing pills to "shoot up" or snort), taking someone else’s prescription, or taking it just to get “high.” Drug use can start as a way to escape—but it can quickly make your life worse. Besides just not feeling well, different drugs can affect your brain and body in many different ways. Here are a few: Alcohol: You might have trouble making decisions, solving problems, remembering, and learning.

Marijuana: You might forget things you just learned or have trouble fo-cusing.

Prescription pain relievers (opioids) or sedatives: Your heart rate and breathing may slow to dangerous levels, leading to coma or death. Heroin: Similar to opioid pain reliev-ers, your heart rate and breathing may slow to dangerous levels, lead-ing to coma or death.

Prescription stimulants (e.g., ADHD medications): Your body tempera-ture could get dangerously high, or you may have an irregular heart-beat, heart failure, or seizures. Cocaine and methamphetamine: You may get violent, have panic attacks or feel paranoid, or have a

Lost & Found

If anyone has lost something, please check at the bar. We hang on to things for a very long time hoping someone will claim them!

To receive your Gazette by email in full color, please contact the Lodge Secretary and provide an email address. It comes on time every time!

I

nvestment Advice, Strategies and Solutions

Ann White

Certified Financial Planner

Investment Advisor Representative

1807 E. Main Street, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 541-942-5535

Aspen Wildlife Services LLC

“Wild About Control”

Offices in Eugene & Bend

Terry Brant

Cell 541-968-8727

wildaboutcontrol@hotmail.com P.O. Box 72474

Eugene, Oregon 97401

ODF&W Registered WCO #100024 CCB# 190026

Erik Benson ChFC, CLU

Exclusive Agent

Personal Financial Representative

Allstate

130 Gateway Blvd Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Office 541-942-2605 Fax 888-227-2907 erikbenson@allstate.com

Gazette Page 8 ~ March 2021 Linda Hartness Principal Broker/Co-Owner Office: 541-942-2121 Fax: 541-942-9605 625 N 9th St · Cottage Grove, OR 97424 www.c21nugget.com Email: lindah@oip.net

A huge thank you goes to the following individuals for their 0936 amazing desire

for Lodge Improve-ment: Ralph Dinnel Marie Ammon Shorty Berry Brad Chapman Eileen Eichler Lenny Layng Carol Layng Duane Arnold Linda Renfroe Tim Horn Bryan Nelson, Mike McCarty Perry Thiede Dalton Perry

11th Hour Club

Cards will be sent to all members in arrears. The purpose of this club is to give a benefi-ciary an amount of cash for immediate needs. Name ____________________________________ Address __________________________________ __________________________________ Assessment - Laurie Pratt $3.50

Club Dues (New Members) - $7.00

*(Includes membership fee and first assessment) *New Members - Please list beneficiary & Phone # ________________________________________ Beneficiary and Phone number

Randy Pitcher, Chairman Payment may be sent to:

BPOE 1904 11th Hour Club

For more information on any of our events call 541/942-3554

SUN MON TUE WED Lodge Night THU FRI SAT

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

RV Parking Available

Limited amount of space No hook ups 1st come 1st served Cost: Donation Only See bartender for check in

Lounge Hours

Wednesday & Thursday: 5pm to Close Friday: 5pm to Close

Closed Saturday, Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday Karaoke every Friday night!

To reserve space for banquets, etc. call 541/942-3554

Gazette

CALENDAR ~ March 2021

Cottage Grove Lodge #1904

Lodge Closed Officer Mtg 5:15pm BOD Mtg 6:30 Lodge Closed 6:30p Bingo Burgers 5-7p Lodge Mtg 7:30p Chicken Fried Steak 5-7p Line Dancing 6p

Pool/Karaoke 7p _{Lodge Closed}

Lodge Closed

Lodge Closed Lodge Closed

6:30p Bingo Burgers 5-7p Balloting Lodge Mtg 7:30p Italian Night 5 - 7p Line Dancing 6p

Pool/Karaoke 7p Lodge Closed

Lodge Closed Lodge Closed



GAZETTE DEADLINE Lodge Closed 6:30p Bingo Burgers 5-7p Lodge Mtg 7:30p Meatloaf 5 - 7p Line Dancing 6p Pool/Karaoke 7p Officer Installation 4p Lodge Opens 2p Lodge Closed 8a - 4p Blood Drive Lodge Closed 8a - 4p Blood Drive Orientation Lodge Closed 6:30p Bingo Burgers 5—7p Initiation Lodge Mtg 7:30p Rib Dinner 5 - 7p Line Dancing 6p Pool/Karaoke7p Volunteer Appreciation Dinner 6p Lodge Opens 5p Lodge Closed

Lodge Closed Lodge Closed

6:30p Bingo Burgers 5—7p

***

Due to COVID-19, events on

this calendar may be changed

with or without notice. Thank you

for your patience and

understanding.

***

Per House Rules, minors must exit the lounge area by 9pm

Also visit OSEA at www.oregonelks.org

Elks.org

GET CONNECTED Remember… No ONE of Us

is as Powerful as ALL of Us! THE VITAL LINK IS YOU!

Pop Up

BLOOD DRIVE

Cottage Grove Elks Lodge #1904

755 North River Rd., Cottage Grove

MONDAY, MARCH 22

TUESDAY, MARCH 23

9:00am - 5:00pm

(Closed for lunch 1-2pm)

Bring photo ID / Wear a mask

Appointment required, to schedule call Bloodworks at 800-398-7888 or go to

www.bloodworksnw.org

NO walk-ins, guests or people under age 16

Upcoming Events...

Officer Installation - March 20

Blood Drive - March 22 & March 23

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner - March 27

Easter - April 4

Mother’s Day - May 9

When R.A. and Margy Pickett were married, they dealt with plenty of paperwork needed to start their new life together. One item they were sure to mark off their list was a will.

Since then, the Picketts joined San-ta Monica, CA Lodge No. 906 and began donating to the Elks Nation-al Foundation. Though the Picketts appreciate all the Foundation’s work, two of the programs are par-ticularly dear to their hearts: veter-ans service and scholarships. The Picketts’ generous hearts led them to include the ENF in their will, and they joined the ENF’s John F. Malley Society, a recognition pro-gram for donors who have planned a gift to the ENF.

“We joined the Malley Society be-cause we want to leave a legacy behind for future kids to enjoy a healthier America,” R.A. said. “We

want veterans to remember that they are not forgotten.”

A will ensures that your personal wishes will be carried out after you are gone. Without one, the state will decide how your assets are distributed. The Picketts have en-couraged many Members of their Lodge to support the ENF, both through regular donations and planned gifts. R.A. said that talking to fellow Members is the best way to ask.

“Find a program that is the most meaningful to you or to the per-son with whom you are chatting,” R.A. said. “Let them see the im-portance of continuing that pro-gram through the ENF with their help after they’ve gone to that ‘Happy Elks Lodge in the Sky.’” R.A. said he likes knowing there are other Members who have planned gifts to secure the future of the ENF.

“I’m so happy to know that there are more people leaving the Foundation something to help our nation’s heroes and children of tomorrow,” R.A. said.

Designated gifts to the Founda-tion make an immediate impact on the communities the ENF serves, and planned gifts help ensure the sustained future of those programs. When drafting your will, please consider includ-ing the Elks National Foundation. “Remember the reason you joined the Elks,” R.A. said. “That should be sufficient enough rea-son to include the ENF in your estate plans.”

For additional information about ENF planned giving, please visit ENFPlannedGiving.org. To discuss planning a gift to the Elks Nation-al Foundation, contact Kate Keating Edsey

at KateE@elks.org or (773) 755-4866.