Rochester Elks come through with $5,000 donation to SHARE fund

From left, Norman Gervais, Rochester Elks Secretary and ENF Chair; Jerry Rainville, SHARE Fund treasurer; Skip Smith, executive director of the SHARE Fund and Jerry Skidds, Exalted Ruler, Rochester Elks. (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - Representatives from the Rochester Elks presented SHARE Fund Executive Director Skip Smith and Treasurer Jerry Rainville with a check in the amount of $5,000 last week.

The donation was made possible through an Elks National Foundation Beacon and Spotlight Grant. The SHARE Fund is a registered 501©(3) local nonprofit charitable outreach agency, which provides various types of material and financial support to families and individuals in need during emergencies or times of severe hardship. They are located at 150 Wakefield St., Rochester.

From Jan. 1 till Dec. 5, the SHARE Fund delivered groceries to 3,576 adults, 1,727 children and 2, 171 other household residents. They also provided over $74,000 dollars in emergency financial assistance to 390 clients, which included medical expenses, car repairs and housing assistance. Their efforts included pop-up pantries at six senior housing developments, delivering personal care items to 50-plus households and providing more than 300 Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets to families in need.

Making the presentation to the SHARE Fund were Rochester Elks Exalted Ruler Jerry Skidds and Lodge Secretary/Elks National Foundation Chair and Grants Coordinator, Norman Gervais.

From a national perspective, the Elks Community Investments Program began in 2005, and it has funded more than 27,000 grants to help Lodges across America build stronger communities. Elks use grants to combat food insecurity, support people experiencing homelessness, serve veterans and military members in need, and to promote youth community service.

When the program began in 2005 with a budget of $350,000, nobody ever imagined that budget would nearly quadruple in just over a decade. Now, as our largest program, the Elks National Foundation invests nearly $15 million in the Community Investments Program to help Elks build stronger communities in all 50 states.

For more information on SHARE: Website: www.sharefund.org . Telephone - 603-335-0011.

For more information about the Elks, visit: www.elks.org