On a November Saturday afternoon, the Orange Elks Lodge#1475 hosted The Eli Home Shelter for Abused Children to a Thanksgiving Dinner with all the fixings.
The Eli Home is a shelter for Abused Children. The Orange Elks provided an afternoon where these children and their mothers could enjoy the dream of feeling loved, getting a holiday meal and being entertained.
The Elk’s committee chairman, Kristen Kosakura, and her committee worked all year to put on this very special day. She used the Elks 4 T’s (Time, Treasure, Talent and Team Work to make the event happen. The time she committed to putting this event together started a year age. The Treasure came from the fund raising that enabled the event to go forward. The Talent came from our lodge members ability to pull this special day off. The dinner was prepared by our own members.
And lastly, the Team Work of putting together the different groups that included cooks, servers, decorations, security, and clean up just to mention a few.
The children were entertained in the lodge room with a model railroad for their
enjoyment.
Face were painted, pictures were taken, therapy dogs were petted.
The success of this event is driven by the Eli Home motto:
“Imagine if LOVE could change the world” is best ended with a quote from DeAnn Hollis: “The heart of a volunteer is not measured in size, but by the depth of the commitment to make a difference in the lives of others.”
Orange Elks not only worked with the Eli Home Shelter to help “break the cycle of child abuse” and make a difference in the lives of the children, but truly showed through this event that “Elks Care Elks Share” and Love can change the world!
Kristen Kosakura is the second from the left.
