Vegreville Elks Lodge Donates to Youth Groups

Vegreville Elks Lodge Donates to Youth Groups

Michelle Pinon News Advertiser

The Vegreville Elks have a long history in the community, dating back to Nov. 24, 1926. The organization’s overall focus was on families and meeting the needs of community members. The same holds true today, and three local youth groups recently received funds to continue to grow their own organizations.

A total $4,500 was dispersed to KidSport, ($1,000), the Vegreville Football Association, ($2,500), and the curling program at Vegreville Composite High School ($1,000).

KidSport Chair Roy Mills expressed his gratitude for the donation and gave an overview of the organization’s mandate and contributions over the past year. “KidSport Vegreville has been very active supporting families in Vegreville and the County of Minburn that are experiencing financial hardships, and without us, their sons and daughters may not have been able to participate in an organized sporting activity.

George Childs, Exalted Ruler for the Vegreville Elks Lodge presents $1,000 to Kendall Warawa, coach for the youth curling program being run through the Vegreville Composite Jr/Sr High School Foundation. (Vegreville Elks Lodge/Photo)

In 2019, KidSport assisted 40 children and youth this to a total of $9,500. This money was fundraised by the KidSport Committee and through generous donations from local businesses, individuals and service clubs. We are truly grateful for all the support we received.”

Dellas Baxandall with the Vegreville Football Association stated, “The funds from the Elks is going directly to the locker room that was built last fall. There will be signage going up this year to recognize the Elks as well as Kinettes that have both made donations to the locker room project.”

Even though Spring football has been canceled due to COVID-19, Baxandall said they hope to be playing football in the Fall. The season would run from September to November. The team would consist of bantam age players,

from Grades 7-9. “We are very excited to announce that we are playing in the Capital District Minor Football Association this season.”

Kendall Warawa, head of the curling program at VCHS said they will be using the donation to offset the cost of ice time. “Our ice time will be roughly $900 again this year. No other school sport has to pay for a facility to play in. My goal is to purchase a set of speed traps for next year which will help take some of our curlers to the next level with muscle memory and execution of precise shots. I had 18 new curlers to the program this year and also did some elementary curling with AL Horton.”

In 2019 the Vegreville Elks donated a total of $31,224 to 22 organizations in the community. The Elks previously received national recognition for having donated a total of $392,000 over the course of 10 years, not including 2019.