Our Military & Veterans

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Written by Rose Wujcik

Sarasota South Elks Lodge #2495 hosted 72 veterans for lunch March 11. Stephanie Kern, Associate Director of Philanthropy from Southeastern Guide Dogs was present and gave a brief introduction to what they do in preparation to assigning a guide dog to those in need. Ed Burton, a 28-year Navy veteran, told the attendees how helpful his guide dog, Sammy, is to him. Burton was an engineer and did three tours in Vietnam as well as in Nicaragua, Panama, Granada and Desert Storm. Injuries received during his service caused the inflammation of his optic nerve and led to his vision loss. Sammy is his second dog from Southeastern Guide Dogs. Since he has had him, he Burton has been able to live an active life and adapting to life on a sailboat spending time with his wife boating in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas. He and his wife, Betty, are thankful to the Elks for their continued support of Southeastern Guide Dogs.

Stephanie Kern from Southeastern Guide Dogs attends a veterans luncheon March 11 at Sarasota South Lodge to speak about the organization’s guide dogs. Also pictured are Richard Bouchard, Exalted Ruler, and Ed Burton, a Navy veteran with his dog, Sammy.

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Written by Zephyrhills Elks

On Jan. 27, Ken Fabiani, Exalted Ruler of Zephyrhills Lodge, made a presentation to Ken Juhn, manager and coordinator for the Veterans Golf League in Temple Terrace, Fla., of a full set of golf clubs and a golf bag that were donated by Paul and Patsy Thornton, Elks members in Michigan. The Veterans Golf League allows veterans to play at a reduced rate for a round of golf or a reduced rate on golf apparel. They can also use the golf range at no cost for buckets of golf balls. Additionally, they also have a few single-rider golf carts for veterans who are unable to walk; the cart seat turns and tilts the veterans into a standing position and is held to the seat by a seatbelt making it possible for them to drive the ball and continue on playing the round of golf.

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Written by Zephyrhills Elks

On behalf of Zephyrhills Lodge, member Shirley Crawford delivered blankets to veterans at Baldomero Lopez Veterans Nursing Home Feb. 7. The Happy Hookers is a group of five women not affiliated with the Elks who volunteer to make the blankets for the veterans. Yarn is donated to them and each blanket takes about 15 hours to make. They have made 28 so far. The veterans were wide-eyed and smiling at this appreciated donation. The home administrator, Marlies Sarrett, expressed her sincerest gratitude for the donation which increases residents’ morale.

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Written by Al Eakle

For the second year in a row, Twin Cities Elks Lodge #2747 donated $2,500 from their Elks National Foundation Gratitude Grant to Healing Paws for Warriors, a local nonprofit organization based in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., that provides American Disabilities Act-certified canines to veterans. Mike Arena, co-founder and executive director, says, “We are devoted to helping our veterans and the pet overpopulation problem. Once a veteran is accepted into our program, they will be paired with a dog adopted from a local shelter. They will live together from that point forward.” Depending on the individual needs of the applicant, they train them with a certified service dog. A certified service dog is allowed, by law, to enter public places such as the veteran’s workplace, restaurants, buses, stores, etc. These are rights set forth in the ADA. “When a veteran and their dog are close to graduation, they will be asked to mentor incoming trainees to help them transition into our program,” said Arena. “We feel this is very beneficial to both the new trainee and experienced veteran. Once the dog is fully trained in the individual tasks, it will be certified as a service dog.”

Arena served more than 23 years as an Air Force medic. After numerous deployments, he was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). After his diagnoses and subsequent retirement, he heard of a program that paired service dogs with veterans. Shortly after graduating from the program, he regained his smile and received a new K9 partner, Orion. He now provides executive management and service dogs at no cost to combat-injured veterans for the non-profit organization. “As a program,” he added, “we continue to grow our veteran-founded, veteran-led rescue-to-trained ADA-certified service dog program for those faced with PTSD, TBI or military sexual trauma. Each of our dogs cost approximately $25,000 to rescue, house, medically care for, feed and train.”

Healing Paws for Warriors relies solely on the support of the community such as that provided by Elks. More information about the non-profit organization is available at healingpawsforwarriors.org. 

Twin Cities Lodge Exalted Ruler, Rick Woelfl, and House Committee chairman, Kathy Casey, present a $2,500 check to Mike Arena, co-founder and executive director of Healing Paws for Warriors.

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Written by Christine Horn

The veterans at the Douglas T. Jacobson State Veterans Nursing Home received new clothing, tennis shoes, shavers and personal care items from Rotonda Elks Lodge #2710. The lodge used $1,800 of the Elks National Foundation Freedom Grant for supplies and $200 for the Wednesday veterans’ meals at the lodge. 

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Written by Char Fisher

Lakeland Lodge made a donation to the James A. Haley VA Hospital specifically targeted to the homeless veterans they serve. The immediate need was for athletic shoes, rain jackets, toothpaste, toothbrushes, bar soap and baby wipes. The donation worth approximately $850 included 39 pairs of shoes, 13 rain jackets, 27 packs of baby wipes, 93 bars of soap, 68 toothbrushes, 64 boxes of toothpaste, 33 packs of antibacterial wipes and 20 pairs of socks. An additional 32 personal care kits were donated from member Dan Wait’s Sandpiper community. The kits were also tailored for the homeless veterans and included toiletries, socks, hats and puzzle books. Steve Masterton, PER and John “Mac” McArthur delivered the donations to the hospital.

Pictured are Marty, VA Hospital Voluntary Services; John McArthur, Lakeland Elk; Janice Rodriguez, VA Hospital Voluntary Services; and Steve Masterton, PER.