Imagine you're homeless and you've just been informed you have your own place to stay.  What do you have?  A coat, maybe a tent and a sleeping bag although very battered and worn.  You have no towels, blankets, bed or bedding.  No furniture.  You have no pans to cook with, no plates to eat off of.  Nothing for the bathroom - no toilet paper, wash rags, towels, toilets.... nothing.

​Several lodges have already started participating and the numbers are growing!  Connect with your local Veteran organizations, Housing Authority, Veteran Centers and Family Assistance Specialist in the State.  $300 to purchase items for their home - $400 if you include a bed with everything you've purchased.

​Concerned your lodge may not have the funds to sponsor this program, to get it started?  You can apply for the WSEA Veterans $400 grant until March 30th of each WSEA fiscal year.  

​Once you've insured your veteran is a vet, you can ask him/her for a list of needed items.  Appoint someone in the lodge (or you can) to purchase these items.  They can be New or used items as long as you have a receipt from the business, showing the purchases.

​It is advisable to attain a list, rather than take the veteran shopping as it's been shared they have a hard time making up their minds what to purchase making a one hour shopping trip, last 6-8 hours.  If you have the time to take them, that's great!  If  you don't, get a list, purchase the items and deliver to him/her.

​I have talked to several Elk members across the Nation that state reimbursement to the lodge has happened in less than a weeks time.  At this time, there is no limit as to how many you can do.  

​Once you've shopped and delivered, gather your receipts, fill out the form on the elks.org site for reimbursement.  It's.That.Simple!​

• Need help with funding?  You may be able to receive a WSEA Veterans grant to help you get started!  Email your request to elks4vets@gmail.com.  Yes, it's that easy!

See some examples below.