Home Service – About
Each State has a Major Project, and the Project for Pennsylvania is Pennsylvania Elks Home Service. The Home Service Program provides in-home nursing care management services by registered nurses to persons who have developmental disabilities. NO fees are charged to anyone receiving services from this program. The Bellefonte Elks does fundraising events during the Lodge year which runs from April 1st to March 31st. At the Spring Convention in May, all the Lodges, by District, present the amount that was raised by their Lodge. Last year, just over $500,000 was raised for Home Service by Lodges throughout Pennsylvania.
The Bellefonte Elks do two major fundraisers, monthly breakfasts, events and 50/50 drawings, all benefitting Home Service. Members also make donations throughout the year to Home Service as well. For Lodge year 2023-2024, the Elks raised over $22,000.00 and this past year, raised over $20,000.00. This was possible by lots of volunteer hours, members who purchased tickets for the raffles and donated items to the events. This is a great example of “Elks Care, Elks Share”!
Major Fundraisers:
The Bellefonte Elks does two major fundraisers for Home Service, both raffles, one for Grange Fair and one called CP Night (CP stands for Cerebral Palsy, which is what the major project was years ago, but changed to Home Service, but the name just stayed the same).
The Grange Fair fundraiser is a raffle, giving away $1750.00. It is held during the Annual Grange Fair that is held in Centre Hall in August. This Fair runs for nine days, and is attended by hundreds of thousand people. Raffle tickets are sold for $2.00 each, or 6 for $10.00. Each member of the Lodge is mailed a letter and a group of six tickets, which they are asked to purchase, with the option of purchasing more, or asking friends and family if they would like to support this fundraiser. The Elks also has a booth at the Fair, where the raffle tickets are sold, along with having a daily 50/50 drawing, which is announced each night at closing. The winners of the raffle tickets are announced the last day of the Fair. The booth is open from 1pm to 9pm, and members are asked to sign up for a two hour shift to man the booth and sell the raffle tickets and 50/50 tickets. The booth is decorated with a Patriotic theme, supporting our Veterans.
