The Latest from Lodge 572...

Fish Fry

Date: Thursday, February 4. Serving Time: 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. (Curbside pickup available at the Lodge Parking Lot) Included: Fish, baked beans, cole slaw and dessert for $10. Help your Lodge - Enjoy a good dinner!

Lodge 572 Brings Christmas Cheer To Veterans

Lodge Veterans' Chairman, Steve Schemonia, would like to extend a hearty Thank You to all Elks who helped with, first of all, in providing Christmas Gift Boxes to some special Veterans this 2020 season! Despite the limitations of Covid 19, we managed to get some 25 boxes to our Haven Veterans, along with 12 to Craig's Manor and Three Springs Nursing Home, both in Chester. The Marion V.A. helped with distribution to Haven Vets; and PER, Ed Fisher, assisted Steve in delivering to the two Chester locations. In these 37 boxes, were found fruits & veggies; candy; cookies; sweat shirts; socks, gloves, and a Christmas card. Beautiful Roses donated the fruits & veggies, while our own Elk member "Cookie Bakers" provided over 40 dozen cookies to choose from - Wow! In fact, there were enough cookies to allow inclusion in the goodie bags that Santa (Thanks, Jeff Carter!) gave out to Elks' kids & grand kids on our parking lot, and which were eventually taken to START clients. Also, a Shout Out goes to Bob and Michele Allard for supplying and filling the goodie bags for the kids! Bottom line - once again, a great demonstration that at #572, Elks Care - Elks Share!

Lodge 572 Uses Grants To Help Our Community

Take a look at how we are a strong support element in the communities served by Lodge #572. By meeting our National Foundation (ENF) per capita goals this past year, we qualified for $12,500 in Grants, as follows:

Completed or in Progress:

Freedom Grant ($2,500) During this pandemic time, assisting Veterans and families of active Service Members, for basic living needs; housing; hygiene supplies; food; and Backpacks filled with basic-need items, for Homeless Vets.

Spotlight Grant ($2,000) To the Warming Center, in Carbondale, to house and assist the homeless & those affected by Covid-19.

IEA State President's Grant ($1,500) $1,000 to supply Christmas Gift Boxes to Veterans living in facilities in Randolph County; and $500 to the Snowflake Square Program (administered by Murphysboro Hometown Christmas and Murphysboro Schools, to assist with Christmas Gifts for children of needy families).

IEA Veterans' Grant ($1,000) $500 to assist with purchase of new, flat-screen T.V.s at the Anna Veterans' Home; $500 to the Haven, Veterans' Day Center on Crab Orchard Lake.

Just Approved and/or Now Beginning:

Gratitude ($2,000) To be distributed between the Jackson County Humane Shelter and St. Francis Animal Shelter to help ease pressures resulting from the pandemic; $500 to Operation Rebound, in Carbondale, for their Outreach Program, which assists low income / homeless High School-age, alternative-education students with personal hygiene items, snacks, some clothing items, books, etc.; $500 to to the local Family Outreach Program, administered by the Catholic Church, which assists needy and homeless in our area with hygiene items and diapers.

Beacon ($3,500) $1,750 to the Murphysboro Food Pantry; $1,750 to "SPIN," in Murphysboro, to assist those in need with clothes and a wide variety of basic family items. Veterans will receive special attention.

Members all, of Elks Lodge #572 - yes, it has been a difficult and challenging year, due to Covid-19. Yes, we have had contests (example - Hoop Shoot) cancelled. Yes, our restaurant and Club Room operation has been greatly affected by mitigation guidelines. Yet, through all of this, you, as a supportive Elk, can look at what we are continuing to do, as a local Elk's Lodge. We believe you can be proud of what we are continuing to accomplish. Elks Care - Elks Share!!

Lodge 572 Teen Of The Year Awards


Lodge #572 Junior Teen-of-the-Year Maggie Williams, with certificate and $100 check.	Lodge #572 Teen-of-the-Year, Ashley Jarrett, with plaque and $100 check. Ashley also won South District Teen-of-the-Year for an additional $500 award.

January Newsletter Now Available

The newsletter for January is now available. Due to the shutdown, there is no calendar. To view/print it, please use the links in the menu on the left.

Building Fund Raffle

Updated: To help the Lodge financially after the COVID-19 shutdown, we sold raffle tickets to generate money for our Lodge. These raffle tickets were ten dollars each, for a chance at winning one of three cash prizes: $500, $250, $100. The drawing has been done: Congratulations to Norm Wayman, Kellie Ellis, and Phil Green who won the $500, $250, and $100 dollar prizes, respectively. Almost $1700 was raised to support the Building Fund to go toward replacing the air conditioning system in the Lodge Room in the back.

Monday Nights Volunteers

The Monday night volunteer teams project has been going well. Members form groups to volunteer to cook dinner, serve food, and bartend. We currently have several teams taking turns in this endeavor. Once our Lodge is allowed to re-open, this program will resume. If you would like to participate in an existing team, you can contact the following team leaders: Jim Ferguson/Jerry Willet, Richard Martin/Darcie Hastings, Kathy Guetersloh/Selena McBride, or Steve Schemonia/Christian Rose. If you would like to create your own team that you think can outperform any of the teams listed above, do not hesitate to reach out to any of the current team leaders and express your interest. We hope to see many of our members enjoying their Monday nights with some friendly culinary competition and a chance to win a little extra money for a dollar!

Lodge 572 Earns Awards from IECCC

Although there weren't the usual presentations and fanfare at the Illinois Elks state meeting (which was canceled), our Lodge once again was awarded for its fundraising efforts for the Illinois Elks Childrens Care Corporation (IECCC) for the 2019-2020 year. For gross contributions, Lodge 572 was awarded 2^nd place in the state (out of 69 lodges) for a total contribution of $20,448.00. Our per-capita contribution of $30.34 per member garnered us 1^st place in the South District.

Elks National Foundation 2020-2021 Scholarship Information

Legacy Awards
Open to college-bound high school seniors who are the children or grandchildren of duespaying Elks. 350 scholarships at $4,000 each. Judging based on applicant's commitment to the core values of the ENF: Knowledge, Community Service, Charity, and Integrity. (Legacy scholars are required to serve with the Elks throughout college, to receive their scholarship funds.) Applications available online starting September 1, 2020, at enf.elks.org/Leg. Due online on or before February 5, 2021 at 11:59 a.m. Central Time.

Emergency Educational Grants
Provides undergraduate college financial assistance to children of deceased or totally disabled Elks in the form of renewable, one-year grants of up to $5,000. (This grant is for educational assistance only and is not intended to cover the entire cost of a college education.) Eligibility: attend an accredited U.S. college or university as a full-time (12 semester hours) undergraduate student; demonstrate financial need; be unmarried & under the age of 24 during the academic year for which assistance is desired. Applications available by request between May 1 and November 2 of the academic year for which assistance is desired. To request an application, contact the ENF Scholarship Office at 773/755-4732 Additional information about these Grants can be found at enf.elks.org/EEG

Finally, you can contact the following Lodge Scholarship Committee persons: Merle Evans (618-303-1693 or merle_evans@elks572.org) or Don Siefert (618-201-4184 or donnansief@aol.com)