Elks National Foundation

Helping Elks Build Stronger Communities

The mission of the Elks National Foundation is to help Elks build stronger communities. We fulfill this pledge by investing in communities where Elks live and work. We provide tomorrow’s leaders, our youth, with lifelong skills; honor the Elks pledge to never forget our veterans; help the state Elks associations accomplish their charitable objectives and fund projects that improve the quality of life in local Elks communities.

Like all Elks, the Foundation values the belief that charity is the greatest of all virtues and that by sharing and giving we have the power to replace sorrow and despair with hope and confidence. Donations to the Foundation help us fund programs that match our cornerstone values of knowledge, integrity and community.

The Elks National Foundation at our Lodge

The Elks National Foundation has a 3 person team at the Ballard Elks Lodge, a Chairman or organizer and 2 grant writers.

  • Marty Paulson – Grant Writer & Chair

It is these three people that will take the time to make sure we are meeting our goals and assessment from the Elks National Foundation but they will also be pairing up events and activities with the various grants the Elks National Foundation offers and doing their darnedest to get them funded.

The Assessment:

Each Lodge in the country has a portion of each of their members dues that goes directly to the Grand Lodge, a bit over $16.  Each lodge also has an assessment for the Elks National Foundation.  Each year the amount of this assessment is adjusted by the Grand Lodge and multiplied by the number of members a lodge has on December 31 of the calendar year.  For 2016 the assessment is $4.65 per member and we have 1207 members on the books.  $5,613.00 is our goal for 2016.

If our lodge doesn’t meet this goal we are not only doing a lousy job of supporting the amazing things the Elks National Foundation does for youth, community, veterans and our members.  We also lose the opportunity for recurring grants.

How is the Elks National Foundation Helping Washington?

When you give to the Elks National Foundation, you’re doing more than funding the Elks National Drug Awareness and “Hoop Shoot” programs. You’re doing more than supporting the Community Investments Program and providing Emergency Educational Grants to the children of deceased or totally disabled Elks. You’re doing more than maintaining the Elks Veterans Memorial.

You’re doing all that, and you’re supporting Elkdom in your state.

During the 2014-15 Lodge year, the Elks of Washington donated $176,415.63 to the Elks National Foundation.