Elks National Foundation Blog

Reflections from the SAB President By Kat Nakamura 2019 MVS Scholar Hi, Elks Family! I’m Kat Nakamura, a 2019 MVS Scholar currently serving as the president of the Scholar Advisory Board. My time with the Elks has been a transformative experience, not only providing me with financial support for my education but opening the door to a nurturing community of like-minded individuals and remarkable opportunities. My journey began when I applied for the Elks Most Valuable Student scholarship, and little did I know it was just the beginning of a life-changing adventure. Months later, my mom encouraged me to apply to join the Scholar Advisory Board. Initially hesitant, I thought there was no chance of being accepted. Little did I realize that this decision would lead me to one of my most cherished experiences throughout college. The Scholar Advisory Board are the representatives that advise the ENF on scholar relations. Apart from being on the board, members attend the Elks National Conve

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

By Claire Schnucker Some tasks are prone to procrastination. For ENF Fundraising Chairs, one of those can be submitting donor lists. Remitting donations to us can be time consuming, but it’s so important, and we really appreciate all the time and work that goes into keeping the ENF up to date on who our donors are. Why do we care? Let’s break it down. Knowing how to submit member donations to us is important. Ensuring that donors can be credited for their gift is important. Yet, we continue to receive checks from Lodges without an accompanying list of the members who donated the money. When that happens, the entire donation is credited solely to the Lodge, which means the actual donors aren’t credited, acknowledged, or recognized for their ENF donations. We want every donor to receive credit for their generosity. You can help by accurately tracking donations from your Lodge’s members, and sharing those lists with us when you send in checks. For your trouble, you may even qual