By: Jacob Fritchie, 2017 Most Valuable Student scholar I joined the #ElksFamily as a Top 20 Most Valuable Student scholar in 2017. Leadership Weekend was a blast, and I was so thankful for the scholarship money that allowed me to go to my dream school, the University of Illinois. After learning about the wonderful Elks National Foundation during Leadership Weekend, I knew that I wanted to stay involved and continue connecting with scholars across the country. My first opportunity was the 2018 Summer Elks Scholar Service Trip before the 150 for 150 celebration in San Antonio, Texas. In San Antonio, the main focus was serving people experiencing homelessness. We weeded a large community garden, cleaned a school building for children without homes, and volunteered with a shelter large enough for hundreds of families. I had done community service on my own but volunteering with a group of 19 other serviced-minded individuals felt different. Every day after service, we would have reflect
By: Aditi V. Patel, 2019 Most Valuable Student scholar Last week, I had the pleasure of serving alongside 20 other amazing Elks scholars as a part of the Tampa Elks Scholar Service Trip. I did my research before the trip and found that Hurricane Ian had displaced more than 40,000 Floridians in September 2022—I wanted to do something to help! After landing in Tampa, we got right to work by sorting a busload (literally) of clothing that Tampa, Fla., Lodge No. 708 collected from the community for Greater Pine Island. We organized each item of clothing by size, made sure each item was in good condition, and placed them into bags. Whenever there weren’t clothes at my table, I would shift to another station to help others, and I saw other scholars doing the same. It was amazing to see everyone laboriously working for hours without any complaints, learning names and fun facts as we went. We had dinner at the Tampa Elks Lodge, which is where I had my first genuine conversations with the s