SUNDRE – Proceeds from the 2024 Sundre Elks Lodge No. 338’s marathon bingo were dedicated to helping ensure students at both local schools continue to have access to healthy snacks to fuel their scholastic success.
Michelle Engelman, the local lodge’s exalted ruler, said the Sundre and District Nutrition for Learning Society was selected as this year’s recipient because the non-profit organization’s volunteers “provide healthy snacks for the kids at school, which helps them to concentrate on their studies and not their bellies.”
Additionally, supporting youth causes is a core priority for the Elks.
“Children have always been the most important part of what we as Elk members look to help the community,” said Engelman, later adding the society’s members are “always a pleasure to work with.”
The society’s team of volunteers has for a number of years endeavoured to ensure students at River Valley as well as Sundre High schools receive a supplemental source of energy.
Breakfasts are served five days a week at the high school, while the students at River Valley get a healthy snack four days a week, up from three in the past, said Lana Saunders, the society’s executive director.
Courtesy of the community’s ongoing support, Saunders added that the society was this past academic year also able to introduce a fridge at each of the schools so that students have access to fresh snacks any time.
The fifth edition of the bingo marathon, which was held on Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Elks hall, featured a 50/25/25 as well as an assortment of raffle items. Volunteers from Adams Army also teamed up with members of the Sundre Elks to provide players a supper that offered the choice of a hot dog, burger or cheeseburger along with a salad and water at no additional cost, said Engelman.
“We had about 58 people,” she said.
Approximately $1,800 was raised, of which the society earned $1,080 that the Elks then topped up for a total of $1,500. Additionally, as the Sundre Community Van Association has provided volunteers to help out with the regular weekly bingos over the past three months, that organization was also later presented with a donation in the amount of $2,082.
The Elks pays forward proceeds from the annual bingo marathon to different community service organizations every year, but a group has not yet been selected for next year’s event. The Elks also partner with other non-profit groups to line up arrangements to have volunteers help run the regular weekly bingo nights for three-month spans, she explained.
“We are accepting applications for our regular bingo volunteers as well as our marathon bingo 2025 and our turkey bingo 2025,” she said, adding the Elks will early this December be informing the groups that have been selected for which bingo events.
