The Orange Elks Lodge, Orange, CA

"The friendly lodge"

Nominated by Bill Neessen

Orange Elks were there for Zack Collie when he sustained a life-changing injury. They supported him from his initial recovery to walking at his high school graduation. (Credit: Bill Neessen)

The lodge was established in 1923 and purchased its current building in the great depression. Over the years, the lodge has grown in membership to 1,408. In the last couple of years, the lodge has been recognized with awards from the Grand Lodge Session as an All American Lodge, won the ENF Chairman’s Challenge and earned the Five-Star award for the design of its website.

Community Involvement

The lodge has many committees that support our activities and programs throughout the year. Here are a few:

Mary’s Kitchen, which helps the homeless people of our community. Members prepare and serve meals to the less fortunate.

Orange Police Department. Members help purchase police dogs.

Supporting our Veterans

Assistance to the Broadway Manor Home for homeless veterans.

Involvement with the Patriotic Service Dogs.

Cooking and serving for the Wounded Warriors at Camp Pendleton and the BBQ on the Beach.

Orange Elks members serve lunch at the Wounded Warrior Center at Camp Pendleton. (Credit: Bill Neessen)

Youth Programs

We support the Down Syndrome Association of Orange County annual Picnic and Buddy Walk; Drug Awareness talks to the junior and high schools students in Orange Unified School District; and the Hoop Shoot program, Americanism Essay contest, Drug Awareness contest, Scholarship to high school seniors.

We also do the Dictionary Project where we hand out a dictionary to every third grader in the school district.

We also support Troop 1475, our Boy and Girl Scout troops. Our troop has had 12 Eagle Scouts in the last 10 years

How do we get these job done? Fund-raising is the key to getting these programs done. The International Street Fair is one and the generosity of our members is another.

Visit our web page and check out our community service programs, our veterans events and our Eagle Scouts.

Elks on YouTube

Orange Elks YouTube channel