Pictured from left are Matt Stropes, Floyd Schmidt, Terry Howell, and Chris Schmidt

Local Elks expand community involvement with drug awareness programs [August 14, 2013]  Saturday, the Lincoln Elks Lodge hosted a district meeting of the Elks. The Elks Drug Awareness trailer was brought to Lincoln and set up in the parking lot.

The object was to encourage all the Elks lodges in the district to take advantage of the mobile unit that will help them provide a community service in their hometowns.

Matt Stropes and Terry Howell of the Illinois Elks were on hand to talk about the trailer. Stropes and Howell are with the Elks Lodge in Pekin, which is where the trailer is stored between uses.

The trailer is one of five in operation statewide. It is available to all the Elks lodges, free of charge. In order to use the trailer, local lodges have to provide local volunteers to man it, and they need to pick it up and return it to its home in Pekin.

Stropes and Howell walked through what is in the trailer. The trailer opens up, and an array of pamphlets and literature are available for handout to kids and adults. Stropes pointed out that in the literature are guides for parents, such as the 10 ways to tell if a child may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

There is also a walk-through portion where kids and adults can see three-dimensional displays of the damage done to internal organs as a result of such abuses.

Howell explained that for the kids, a wide variety of products are available, from coloring books to posters, rulers, bookmarks, comic books and more.

He said individual lodges choose what they want to have in the trailer and order it in advance. They can then stock the trailer with their items, and when the event they are attending is done, they can keep the leftovers to use at other times, or he said some groups leave the leftovers in the trailer for the next lodge to use.

On a local level, Floyd and Chris Schmidt of the Lincoln lodge were on hand, talking about what the local Elks do and what they hope to do in the future.

They explained that currently the Elks contribute financially to the local D.A.R.E. program and participate in the annual Christmas parade, handing out coloring books and fliers.

The Schmidts said that the Lincoln Elks are interested in expanding what they do and will be looking to partner more with organizations such as D.A.R.E. They also talked about using the trailer in the future at local festivals, health fairs and other healthy activities.

A fun feature of the trailer is Elroy the Elk. Elroy is a larger-than-life mascot for the Elks. Chris Schmidt was happy to don the large elk head and show him off. Howell said that Elroy is popular with the kids, helps draw them into the trailer and opens the door for communicating with them about drugs and alcohol.

In addition, the trailer is equipped with a show-and-tell-type game kids can play. It involves a basketball hoop and a pair of special goggles. Kids put on the goggles, which are designed to blur the vision and simulate what the world looks like when they are under the influence. They are then asked to shoot hoops. The men explained that with the goggles on, it is pretty difficult for the kids to make the shot and even keep their balance while trying.

While the activity is fun, it is also a teaching activity that helps kids understand what they are doing to themselves when they abuse drugs or alcohol.

In the Elks organization there are levels, the highest being the federal or national level, and then the state level, districts and local lodges. The trailer belongs to the Illinois Elks Association and is funded by grants from the federal organization.

Nationwide, the Elks Lodge works with veterans and carries a motto that as long as there is a veteran, he will not be forgotten. Stropes said that when they began the project they labeled it: As long as there is a veteran in the hospital, he will not be forgotten. However, over the years, they have come to realize that the needs of veterans on a daily basis are great, so they do what they can to address all the needs of local vets.

In its youth programs, in addition to the drug awareness trailer, the Elks organization offers scholarships and assistance programs for special-needs children.

Stropes explained that there are special scholarships for students studying in the fields of physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech.

Also, the Elks work with the organization's Children's Care Corp. to provide special equipment for disabled children.

Howell explained that the corporation might notify them that they have a child in a wheelchair and the family can't afford to install a chair lift in their van. He said the Elks can help get that done for the family.

Strope also remembered it wasn't too long ago that the Children's Care Corp. notified them that there was a child who needed a special computer because he was vision-impaired. He said the Elks helped to provide that computer to the child.

The Schmidts said the local Elks will meet this week, and they hope to discuss the lodge's expansion of community involvement and the use of the drug awareness trailer. With the support of the lodge as a whole, they hope the community will soon be introduced to the trailer, and of course Elroy the Elk will be there too.

[By NILA SMITH]