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Home for the Holidays: An Elks Scholar Reflection

By Most Valuable Student Scholar Matthew Ramos


My name is Matthew J. Ramos and I am a 2013 ENF Most Valuable Student recipient. While home for the holidays I assisted my sponsoring Elks Lodge—Carmichael, Calif., Lodge No. 2103—with its annual holiday basket event. On the morning of December 22, I arrived at the Lodge at 8 a.m. eager and willing to help put together boxes of food that would distributed to families within our community. I meet with Mr. Murray, the Project Coordinator, and he introduced me to several of the other Elks and gave me an overview of the process. It was like a fine-tuned machine. There were rows of boxes on tables, and stacks of flour, sugar, canned goods and fresh produce all around the sides of the room. We had carts to carry the items to the boxes and each box was labeled with the number of adults and children in the family.

We got busy and filled more than 125 boxes in less than two hours. When the individuals and families arrived, they were signed in and then it was time to locate their boxes and help them to their vehicles. Each family received 10 lbs. of potatoes, several onions, a stalk of celery, sugar, flour, biscuits, butter, gravy, pasta, canned goods and a turkey for a wonderful holiday dinner and beyond. There were also toys, stuffed animals and games for the children. Those 125 boxes helped to feed more than 600 people.

It was nice to be home for the holidays with family and friends, but participating with the Elks to bring the holiday spirit to others in our community was definitely a highlight for me.

I am attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and have connected with other Elks scholars on campus. We helped the local Lodge with its haunted house at Halloween and assisted with the college visitation night this fall. It has been really nice to have the opportunity to provide service to others while establishing myself in my new surroundings. I am very happy to be included in the Elks family wherever I may be.

Matthew Ramos
2013 Most Valuable Student Scholar
Sponsored by, Carmichael, Calif., Lodge No. 2103
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