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<p>PRINGLE &#8212; On a chilly Tuesday evening, I found myself attending the meeting of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge 109.</p><p>At this meeting, I was escorted in and out and in between. The Elks Lodge bestowed quite an honor on me and for that, I will be eternally grateful.</p><p>But that&#8217;s not the story here &#8212; the story is the Elks organization and what it does for so many people every year.</p><p>I heard a little bit about the Elks from the local members, but I decided to go to the national organization&#8217;s website and find out all I could about this fraternal organization.</p><p>Let&#8217;s start with the mission statement:</p><p>&#8220;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 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the United States of America will serve the people and communities through benevolent programs, demonstrating that Elks Care and Elks Share.&#8221;</p><p>That&#8217;s a heckuva mission statement.</p><p>The Elks are, according to their website:</p><p>&#8226; A fraternal order with hundreds of thousands of members and a 150-plus year history.</p><p>&#8226; A network of nearly 2,000 lodges in communities all over the country.</p><p>&#8226; A generous charitable foundation that each year gives millions in scholarships. </p><p>&#8226; Elks also serve as an inspiration to youth, a friend to veterans and more.</p><p>The Elks are, indeed, very generous. Each year, lodges around the country serve their communities by raising money that is pumped back into the community through donations. Many nonprofits benefit from those donations &#8212; some are even reliant upon them to stay afloat.</p><p>And because of organizations like the Elks, many nonprofits are enabled to continue their fine work in communities everywhere.</p><p>From the Elks website:</p><p>The Order spends more than $80 million every year for benevolent, educational and patriotic community-minded programs in such fields as:</p><p>&#8226; Benefiting special needs children.</p><p>&#8226; Sponsoring Elks National Foundation scholarships, scouting, athletic teams, veterans&#8217; works, a national &#8220;Hoop Shoot&#8221; free-throw contest involving more than 3 million children, physical and occupational therapy programs and patriotic programs.</p><p>&#8220;The youth of our country have always been important to the Order. It is for this reason the Elks Drug Awareness Education Program was launched to warn primary grade students and their parents of the dangers in drug use.&#8221;</p><p>Before Tuesday evening, I was really not familiar with everything the Elks were about. I certainly had no idea of the massive reach of the Elks &#8212; deep into the very roots of so many communities like ours right here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.</p><p>Here is some more about the Elks philosophy:</p><p>&#8220;Elks Lodges bring so much more to their communities than just a building, golf course or pool. They are places where neighbors come together, families share meals, and children grow up.</p><p>&#8220;Elks invest in their communities through programs that help children grow up healthy and drug-free, meet the needs of today&#8217;s veterans, and improve the quality of life.&#8221;</p><p>It just doesn&#8217;t get any better than that.</p><p>In accepting the award from Elks Lodge 109, I told the members about my family &#8212; mom, dad and me, three people, four good legs and I had two of them. Yet, I said, I was the least productive of the three of us.</p><p>I went on to tell them more about my parents and what they instilled in me to this day &#8212; how I have dedicated much of my life doing my part to help make life better for kids, mostly, and always striving to improve their quality of life, all the while making our community just a little bit better.</p><p>The Elks lodges do this on a much grander scale. And they do it by deploying individuals in groups like BPOE Lodge 109 to perform admirable work every day of every year.</p><p>Thanks Elks Lodge 109 &#8212; not for the award, which I do appreciate &#8212; but for setting an outstanding example for all of us to follow. </p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_Oboyle_Bill.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@www.timesleader.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Beyond the Byline: Elks do so much for so many