Elks National Foundation Blog

by Raleigh Cury, Elks Scholar Fellow My first week as the Elks Scholar Fellow has been a whirlwind. Unfortunately, there was a hiccup with my work laptop, as it seems to have been either lost in the mail or stolen from my doorstep. Luckily, the ENF was able to get a second one to me quickly! Besides that, it has been a smooth transition into a new job! Everyone has been warm and welcoming, and I am very excited for what is to come. I have started brainstorming about the Winter Elks Scholar Service Trip. My initial idea is to provide disaster relief in Florida in the wake of Hurricane Ian. We might not do disaster relief, but Florida has become a strong contender for the trip. As a life-long resident of the South, I am especially excited to have a job that will take me all over the country.   In fact, I will be flying to Chicago for the job for the first time in less than a month.   I graduated in 2021 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I was heavily involve

  By Lauren Chen, Most Valuable Student Scholar A few weeks ago, I attended my second Elks Scholar Service Trip, this time in Seattle! I had an awesome experience at the 2021 Summer Service Trip in Boston, so I was super excited to explore Seattle and serve with my fellow Elks scholars. Our first service site was Immanuel Community Services. ICS runs multiple programs, including a Food Bank, a Hygiene Center where people can wash their clothes or take a shower, a Recovery Program that provides shelter to men overcoming addiction, and a monthly Community Lunch that offers a hot meal to anyone who is hungry. With these programs, they reach over 1,700 people every month! That morning, we helped reorganize the freezer, hand out food, clean the van and facilities, and melt more than 300 pounds of expired ice cream down the drain. I was in awe of how diverse ICS’s programs were and how many people they help in the Seattle community. Our second service site was Jubilee Women’s Center, which

by Aleah Hahn, Most Valuable Student Scholar Aleah Hahn received a second place Most Valuable Student scholarship in 2018. She graduated from Michigan State University in 2021 with degrees in Biosystem Engineering and German. She is pursuing her master’s degree in Marine Resource Management at Oregon State. In her free time, she likes to cycle, forage and hike. Over my spring break I was able to partake in the 2022 Spring Elks Scholar Service Trip in Chicago! In 2018, I attended the 150 for 150 Service Trip in San Antonio, where we celebrated the Elks 150th anniversary through service. Both were amazing experiences to serve in the name of the Elks. They were alike but also different in many ways.  In San Antonio, I connected with Elks state leadership from my home state of Michigan since the trip was at the Elks National Convention!  I served with 149 other scholars and met many of them. It was a great opportunity to connect with other scholars. The majority of our service was at Haven