Grants

2022

In 2021 All American Saint Louis #9 applied for, was awarded, and successfully completed (or in the process of completing) all five available Grants. Within separate tabs you’ll find rundowns on the four completed Grants (Beacon, Freedom, Gratitude, & Spotlight) while the Impact (awarded in December 2021) will be happening throughout 2022. Any and all questions should be directed to Leading Knight (as of 04/01/22) Beth Schnettler – [email protected] .

2021

Grants History

Members ask all the time why should I give to the Elks National Foundation?  Well the answer is simple – it supports St. Louis Elks Lodge #9’s efforts to give back to the community.  There have been grants which were previously awarded that are no longer awarded, grants that have been added and grants that the number of grants is limited to 300 lodges for the Promise Grant and 350 lodges for the Freedom Grant.  If you look at the chart of our record of receiving grants, you will notice the Lodge has gone from only receiving one grant to receiving all the grants available except for the Impact Grant.  The Impact Grant is a competition between lodges and only 10 grants are awarded a year. 

The Gratitude Grant requires Lodges to meet the Grand Exulted Ruler’s per member goal, which for 2020-2021 is $4.80/member.  If we receive over 15% participation by members of our Lodge in donating at least $10/member, the amount of the award is increased.  St. Louis Lodge #9 has received this grant 9 out of the last 10 years. 

St. Louis Lodge #9 has received $58,100 in grants for projects in our community.  The projects involve veterans, youth, homeless, food and educational objectives. 

As a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, each member has stated they recognize the importance of giving to our community.  Please give the next time you are asked to support the Elks National Foundation.  Our Lodge is working hard to obtain all the grants offered to support our community. 

Beth Schnettler
Grants Chair
[email protected]

Due to COVID-19, the Spotlight Grant for 2020-2021 Is being used to provide additional funds for purchasing food for Circle of Concern. This means we will have a total of $4750 to use for food purchases between the Spotlight Grant and the Beacon Grant. The pandemic has increased the number of families who have a need for food. The Elks National Foundation recognized this need and encouraged lodges to use this grant to support food pantries. All members of our Lodge are encouraged to help donate additional food items which Circle of Concern has identified as critical needs.

The Gratitude Grant projects for 2020-2021 were support of Horizons St. Louis to help the Kirkwood School District provide food for youth who were participating in the summer reading, math, and STEM program. This program focuses on struggling low income students who need the extra help in the summer to maintain the skills taught during the previous academic year. Many of these students had relied on the school breakfast and lunch program for these meals. This donation was to help continue to support these students.

The second part of the grant was used to support the Individualized Learning Center in the Rockwood School District. St. Louis Lodge #9 had worked with this alternative high school for our Student of the Month program. This grant will allow the program to develop a Collective Responsibility and Career Readiness program for the at-risk students attending this Center. The Activities Committee members working with the Student of the Month program hope a vaccine will be developed which would allow our Lodge members to share their talents with the students as part of this program. These students respond very well to positive reinforcement of their efforts.

For the 2020-2021 year, the Promise Grant was not offered by the Elks National Foundation.

ENF this year is genuinely concerned that grant proposals during COVID-19 only reflect requests that can be accomplished with the current restrictions. Therefore, our Beacon Grant this year has two components.

The first part of the grant will be used to provide 15 backpacks to Parkway Northeast Middle School filled with necessary school supplies. The Creve Coeur Resource Office at the school will work with the school officials to identify the 15 low income students who could benefit from this donation. While the grant provided $750 for this project, Lodge members stepped up to provide the school supplies to fill the backpacks.

The second part of the grant will provide $2750 for food purchases for Circle of Concern. This coupled with the Spotlight grant will allow our Lodge to donate $4750 in food. The members of the Lodge are encouraged to donate critically needed food items as well. Last year the generosity of the Lodge almost doubled the amount of the Lodge’s donation to Circle of Concern. During this time of COVID-19, more families are in need. All members to the Lodge are encouraged to step up and help donate food.

In previous year’s, the Freedom Grant was used to support our Kayak with a Vet event. But this year with county restrictions, the grant was used to support H.E.R.O.E.S. Care. This group helps veterans and their families prior to deployment, during deployment and after deployment by providing emergency financial assistance, employment opportunities and extensive counseling to help veterans and their families deal with the effects of PTSD. H.E.R.O.E.S. Cares also has volunteer opportunities for member of our Lodge who would like to help the organization.

2020 Freedom Grant – Check provided to H.E.R.O.S. Care in July 2020.

Elks St. Louis Lodge #9 Grants Received History – Page 1 (2020 – 2013)

Elks St. Louis Lodge #9 Grants Received History, Continued (2013 – 2012)