Spotlight On Fraternal Community Service and Philanthropy
Community Service Highlights
Sons of Norway lodge 3522 Hampton Roads, Norfolk, VA had 16 members work on float set up, transport, and march in the 66th Annual NATO parade in front of an estimated 3,000 parade attendees. 4-28/2018
SPJST Lodge 180, Burleson, TX donated $100 to St Jude 4/24/2018
Sons of Norway, lodge 4067 Thor, had 10 members meet and spend 20 hours cleaning 6 miles of roadside ditches near Glenburn, ND as part of the Adopt a Highway program. 4/19/2018
Royal Neighbors, Chapter 30011, Aurora, IL had 14 members gather together and spend 68 hours sewing blankets, quilts, pot holders, mats, and lap quilts for donation to Infant Welfare of Chicago, local assisted living facilities, and a shelter for women. 4/8/2018
SPJST Lodge 180, Burleson, TX donated $100 to the Wounded Warriors program 4/6/2018
Royal Neighbors, Chapter 00163, Garden City, KS, held an Easter Egg Hunt for Homestead Nursing Home. They filled 12 dozen eggs and helped 46 residents and their grandchildren find the eggs. 4/1/2018
Royal Neighbors Chapter 20091, Omaha, NE collected and delivered 15 blankets (valued at $300) to the Children’s Hospital for preemies 3/31/2018
Royal Neighbors Chapter 010368, Wilton, IA donated $400 in rent money and bags of canned food items to the local food pantry that serves over 100 people per month in the community. 3/31/2018
SPJST Lodge 196 Houston – West, 35 members held an Easter egg hunt where over 120 (75 were children) people attended 3/24/2018
SPJST Lodge 080, Holland, VA –sponsored a community Easter egg hunt 25 members and 125 children and parents were present), with over 2000 eggs, prizes, crafts, and goodies. 150 boxes of cereal were also collected and donated to Holland Baptist Church Food Pantry 3/17/2018
Royal Neighbors Chapter 00179, Watseka, IL, 3 members spent 72 hours sand bagging and cleaning up after record flooding at the Nettie Davis School and for some senior homes on the West side of Watseka 3/5/2018
Royal Neighbors Chapter 20147, Houston TX had (12) members collect 200 food items (valued at $225) from friends, neighbors, and their families for the GPCC food pantry 1-24-2018
Royal Neighbors Chapter 00138 Grand Forks, ND members and boys youth group collected and purchased 29 scarves, 26 pair of gloves, and 62 caps for Nothlands Mission ($106 value) 1/20/2018
Royal Neighbors Chapter 03122, Valparaiso, IN purchased, collected & delivered: Clothing (hats, gloves, scarves, socks); Food, Paper products, & Toys valued at $225.16 to; Housing Opportunities 2001 Calumet Ave. Valparaiso, IN. 12/11/2017
Sons of Norway Lodge 2001 Leif Erikson, Seattle, WA placed red and green boxes and a fundraising sign in the entry of Leif Erikson Hall near Dovregubben. Members and guests placed food and hygienic items into the box for the Ballard Food Bank. Food bank personnel picked up items at the lodge twice. We collected pounds of food, etc. along with $400 in donations collected at the 12/13/2017 business meeting. Some funds received from Leikarringen lodge were included. 12/14/2017
SPJST Lodge 157, Lubbock, TX decided to surprise a retired military family with Christmas for the veterans and their children. In kind donations were made from individuals and the lodge matched the donations to supply the family of 5 a special Christmas. They were basically homeless and living with friends and relatives. A local social worker shared that the family had received a housing voucher but he was not sure when they would get into their house. Due to confidentiality issues we were not able to meet the family. The social worker reported that the parents were overwhelmed with the toys and clothes for the children as well as the gift card to Walmart to help them set up their new home. We would like to challenge other lodges to do something for our military at this wonderful time of the year. 12/20/2017
Royal neighbors Chapter 01391, Sauk City, WI collected various supplies (Collected supplies included:kleenex, toilet paper, laundry soap, 20 pillows, deodorant, scrubbing bubbles, toilet bowl cleaner, toothpaste, tooth brushes, rice, box cereal, mac and cheese, bars of soap, kitchen garbage bags, paper towels) from members and had other members shop for needed supplies (Shopped supplies included: large garbage bags size 4 and 5 diapers, baby wipes, toothbrush holders, soap boxes, shampoo, conditioner, baby shampoo, baby wash, diaper cream, sippy cups, toilet paper, paper towels,baby food, juice, boxed cereal, dish soap, lysol, baby lotion) and delivered to Hope House women’s shelter in Baraboo. 11/29
SPJST Lodge 080 Holland, Texas held a bingo night for the community with very special door prizes that included 20 turkeys for Thanksgiving. 11/16
Sons of Norway Lodge 2087 Cascade, Washington provided Scandinavian oriented crafts on tables around the multipurpose room and an all you can eat Viking Pancake Buffet to 95 children and at least 30 parents during after school hours at the Boys and Girls Club of Mercer Island. The children could make as many crafts as they wished, for instance gingerbread houses, floating soap boats, Viking masks. 11/8 – 11/9
Royal Neighbors Chapter 01570, Thomas, IL purchased over $400 of items to fill (12) laundry baskets with items for families and mothers. (6) baskets for families with food and things to do together and (6) baskets for Moms with personal care and “just-for-mom” items, to be delivered to the Sterling, IL YMCA Domestic Violence Program. 10/27/2017
Royal Neighbors Chapter 00270 Bagley, WI purchased 8 shopping carts of merchandise, to assemble (12) baskets of personal care and (12) baskets of cleaning items valued at over $300 to donate to Family Resources, Prairie du Chien, and Family Advocates, Platteville. 10/23/2017
Sons of Norway Lodge 6166 Vikings of the Lake, Hidden Valley Lake, CA cleaned up and adopted a local road and donated $250 10/12/2017
Royal Neighbors Chapter 00138, Grand Forks, ND helped the Salvation Army get needy Children warm winter scarfs, mittens, and caps. They purchased over $880 of supplies for $150 and made (70) Scarfs, (70) Caps, and Ear Warmers as well as (68) Pairs of Mittens and delivered them just in time for the frigid weather. 10/3/2017
Disaster Relief:
The following are just a few examples of lodge and member efforts from the month of September in the face of the massive disasters experienced in the US and its territories…………
1) SPJST Lodge 196 – 4 members took in five families evacuated during Harvey flooding
2) Sons of Norway Lodge 4067 – Donated $500 to Humanitarian Fund for victims of Harvey and Irma
3) Royal Neighbors Chapter 20147 – Purchased 30 buckets and supplies ($1,750) to distribute to victims in Houston
4) SPJST Lodge 117 – provided shelter to victim of Hurricane Harvey
5) Royal Neighbors Chapter 20066 - collected $350 of supplies and donated $120 to school to Houston elem school
6) Sons of Norway Lodge 1502 Donated $300 to lodge members in Houston for flood relief expenses
7) Royal Neighbors Chapter 20077 – Donated $100 toward purchase of supplies for Houston
8) SPJST Lodge 196 – delivered $12,000 in clothing & supplies to hurricane shelters in Houston after Harvey
9) Royal Neighbors Chapter 00516 – Donated $100 to Salvation Army for hurricane relief
10) Royal Neighbors Chapter 09099 – Donated $100 to Florida church damaged by Hurricane Irma
11) Sons of Norway Lodge 3522 – Donated $100 to SofN Foundation Hurricane Relief Fund
12) Royal Neighbors Chapter 00270 – Donated $822.50 and matching funds of $822.50 to flood relief
Sons of Norway Lodge 4499, Jotunheimen in Billings, MT had 38 members help clean Stewart Park. 8/19/2017
Royal Neighbors Chapter 01570, Thomas, IL donated school supplies and other items (markers, Kleenex, staplers, folders, socks, t-shirts, backpacks, paper shredder, glue sticks, paper, puzzles, and cash donation) to the School in Tampico and Abilities Plus in Kewanee. 8/17/2017
SPJST Lodge 180, Burleson, TX Donated 24 hats and 49 tee shirts valued at $1095 to the youth explorers of the Burleson Police Department. 7/11/2017
Sons of Norway Lodge 5168 Valhall, Rockford, IL participated in the Midway Village 2nd Annual Rockford Plate Gala. The event transports guests to Rockford during the roaring 1920s! Guests give a secret password to enter thru a Speak Easy & then enter into the historic village neighborhood who have opened their doors for this special night. In each of the five homes, a different Rockford ethnic group featured fabulous food, music, traditional clothing, educational displays, decorations, photo ops, and much more! 15 members and 6 non-members volunteered a total of 138.5 hours to make this happen. 7/12 – 7/28/2017
Royal Neighbors Chapter 01397, Indianapolis, IN collected school supplies [(95) two pocket folders, (25) packages of loose leaf paper, (128) spiral notebooks, (165) pens and several sheets of poster board] for the Union School of Modoc. 7/15/201
Royal Neighbors Chapter 01391 Sauk City, WI collected used women’s apparel, shoes, and purses then cleaned, weighed, and bagged the items for donation (over 600 lbs) to Hope House in Baraboo, WI. The Chapter also shopped for and delivered other needed items such as dish soap, laundry detergent, cereal, juice, diapers, baby wipes, Lysol, trash bags, paper towels, disinfecting wipes, and bleach to the Hope House. 6/1 – 6/20/2017
SPJST Lodge 160, San Angelo, TX awarded 4 Scholarships (totaling $500) to Kids for the CORE Group to attend a Summer Camp in Kerrville Texas. 6/6/2017
Royal Neighbors Chapter 01570 in Thomas, IL - Worked on plans to plant a pollinator garden on the Hennepin Canal Parkway at Lock 31. Attended planning sessions to discuss grant opportunities & timeline for construction. Sprayed grass remover to prepare soil for planting. Attended planning session 05-17 to discuss volunteers, watering plants, mulch & planting schedule. 05-22 planted & mulched garden. 5-23, 5-25, 5-31 & 6-03 watered garden. Each watering takes 2 trips of filling five 10 gallon tubs of water & driving to lock 31 (1 mile) to water plants. 5/6 – 6/1 2017
Sons of Norway Lodge 4067 Thor – 10 members spent 30 hours cleaning up 6 miles of ditches 5/25/2017
Royal Neighbors Chapter 20174 in Milan, IL - Partnered with 4H Hume Hustlers to help plant flowers in tubs on Main St in Tampico, plant flowers and clean up Reagan Park, and clean up Booth Park. We planted 9 tubs on Main St. in Tampico, at Reagan Park we planted flowers, picked up sticks, raked around bushes and blew off sidewalks (the day before, trimmed around all benches and blew off the sidewalks). At Booth park, raked up wet leaves around tennis court and picked up sticks. We bought all the flowers and food to serve everyone lunch when work was completed. Entire month of May
SPJST Lodge 084, Dallas, TX – 17 members collected and donated $250 worth of diapers to Supply Hope that helps homeless families. 5/1/2017
Royal Neighbors Chapter 20142, Oakland, CA. Since it was so cold in the Oakland area in May, we purchased beanie hats to give to the homeless all through May in areas where our volunteers are located. The Beanies, socks, hygiene items, food and educational materials (valued at $172) were handed out on April 30th.
Sons of Norway Lodge 1582 Elvesvingen in Mankato, MN had 50 members who collected canned goods and other non-perishable and fresh items (valued at $100) for the Echo Food Pantry in Mankato 4/8/2017
SPJST Lodge 088, Houston, TX - Fourty Seven members dyed and decorated 60 dozen eggs and prepared food for the community Easter Egg hunt. 4/8/2017
Royal Neighbors Chapter 01373, Atlantic, IA purchased and donated 250 small toys and bagged candy ($45.29 value) to Atlantic Specialty Care for their Easter Egg hunt for the residents of Cass County. 3/21/2017
SPJST Lodge 080 in Holland, TX had 15 members work together with the Bartlett group - “FOOD FOR FRIENDS” to prepare and cook 200 food plates of hamburgers, chips, cookies, juice, and mints for delivery to shut ins in the Bartlett-Granger-Walburg area 3/17/2017
Royal Neighbors Chapter 00138, Grand Forks, ND had (3) members spend 28 hours time and get some really great buys on groceries (spent $120) and donated over 200 lbs. of food to the St Joseph’s Food Cupboard. 3/8/2017