Elks National Foundation Blog

by Jenna Johnson Elks Scholar Fellow Since joining the Elks staff on April 4, I have been welcomed into a supportive and inviting community that embodies everything the Elks stand for, and I could not be more grateful. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the chance to converse with wonderful co-workers and had the opportunity to learn more about the various programs and events the Elks National Foundation facilitates. I have always appreciated the mission of the Elks--I would not have been able to attend the university of my choice or pursue the degrees I was passionate about, had it not been for the generous support of the Foundation. However, my admiration for the organization only continues to grow as I learn about departments, such as the Community Investments Program, and events, such as the Hoop Shoot, that are entirely focused on fostering community partnerships. I’m looking forward to involving Elks scholars across the country in the good work of the Elks by engagin

Jocelyn Moya ENF Programs Assistant  Around this time last year, I was just moving up to the CIP office and everything was a chaotic blur. The phones were ringing non-stop, emails were coming in quicker than we could respond to them, and everyone was trying to get back in compliance before the Beacon Grant deadline. And, this was from my second hand perspective as I was not handling the Beacon Grants yet and was taking care of Gratitude Grants. I thought surely I was in for quite an interesting March—and it was but, I drastically overestimated that amount of mayhem that occurred in the CIP office this year. This year we were able to top the Beacon Grant record—and hopefully by the end of it we’ll be closer to 1,000 Beacon Grants approved than ever before. There was definitely a lot of work to be done but there seemed to be less of a rush and everything was much more calm, cool and collected. I guess it all comes down to perspective—last year I had only been at the ENF for