

Livingston Elks Lodge is proud to announce a $3000 grant awarded to Livingston School District in late January. This generous funding is earmarked for school lunches for students in need.
School districts across the state and nation lost funding for school lunches when emergency programs that were implemented during the COVID pandemic were terminated. At a monthly Elks lodge meeting last year, the members were discussing community needs ideas that could be applied to the Elks National Foundation for their Gratitude Grant. This national grant is aligned for people in need but has a wide range of parameters. An Elk’s member posed the idea to cover unpaid or future lunches for middle to low-income children (not currently in the free or reduced-cost lunch program) in our community through the end of this school year. The grant writer connected with the school district and submitted an application for the grant.
At the beginning of each school year all student families are encouraged to complete the lunch program paperwork. Many families meet the guidelines for free or reduced lunches, which are funded in full by the State. Oftentimes families that are in-between the income guidelines for those programs may still have food scarcity and difficulty paying. There are numerous situations that can reduce a family’s ability to pay, which is the segment of students they wanted to reach.
School Business Director Pete Grady explained that students go through the lunch lines and give a code to the lunch staff and a tab is run for each student. The importance of nutrition for the students is paramount for learning and no student would be turned away due to an unpaid balance in their lunch account.
Pete provided reports for the application process on this grant. He says, “Many thanks to the grant writer, Elks Lodge Trustee Heather Green who successfully applied for and secured the grant. The District is very grateful and appreciative for this gift.”
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) of the USA is a fraternal order with hundreds of thousands of members nationwide. Each year, local Elks invest in their communities through programs that help children grow up healthy and drug-free, and meet the needs of today’s veterans and improve their quality of life.
The Mission of the Elks Lodge is to inculcate the principles of Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love and Fidelity; to recognize a belief in God; to promote the welfare and enhance the happiness of its members; to quicken the spirit of American patriotism; to cultivate good fellowship; to perpetuate itself as a fraternal organization, and to provide for its government. The Elks will serve the people and communities through benevolent programs, demonstrating that “Elks Care and Elks Share.”
The National Elks have been serving our communities and neighbors since 1868. Do you want to help? Consider joining the lodge. The Elks Lodge is located at 120 South 2nd Street in Livingston. They can be reached at 406-222-2511, and you can find them easily on Facebook.