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Florida Elks News Editor:
Rachael King
 
Entire contents copyright 2023 by the
Florida State Elks Association Inc.
P.O. Box 49
Umatilla, FL 32784-0049
352-669-9443

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Florida Elks News Online

cleaning our the beds 002  Jerry can work a rake

Krisitna has a plan  large crew planting scrubs 003

Lauras crews project 002  Linda is hands on with her team

9 of my 11 volunteers 003

On Jan. 23 at 9 a.m., Tampa Elks assembled at Coleman Middle School to embark on a landscaping project with students in the Beta Club. To join this club, students must earn 10 hours of community service, retain a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and get two teacher recommendations. These were highly motivated and well-disciplined students, and the lodge members enjoyed working with them. While Coleman is not a particularly impoverished school, the county’s budget for maintenance has been cut due to the increased cost of maintaining COVID-19 precautions. Because of this, the school was looking rather shabby. Lodge member Kristina Chowning is the Beta Club sponsor and determined the scope of the project and the supplies needed and organized the morning by assigning each Elk to a different point in the schoolyard. Tommy Moore helped with pressure washing and supervised students who were applying sod to the picnic area grounds. Jerry Reid spent a few hours raking. Elma Kelly, Laura Jones and Linda Reid worked on planters. Shannon Wheatley worked out front with a group of students. The project involved 75 students and 11 Elks — two food runners, a photographer, two hydration station and lunch helpers, and six who rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Several teachers, some PTA parents and the principal helped as well. Other adults supervised students planting shrubs along the walkway and weeding out a bed of ferns. With that many students, all the projects were done early, so the group went across the street and tackled the track and basketball courts. The project was funded by approximately $1,500 of their $3,500 Elks National Foundation Beacon Grant.