Culver City Observer -

By David W. Myers, Contributing Editor

The Culver City Elks Lodge last week gave a check for $5,500 to the California-Hawaii Elks Association to help provide care for a prematurely-born boy and the medical help that other disabled children need.

The contribution by the Culver Elks pushed the amount of money that the California-Hawaii Elks Association, commonly called CHEA, has raised through its annual fund-raising efforts to nearly $110 million since the yearly drives began in the 1950s.

In all, the Culver Elks contributed $7,250 to the project for the Lodge Year that ended March 31.

Donations from Elk members in the two-state group totaled more than $3.3 million for the year, up nearly 25-percent from the previous 12-month period.

“We’re proud that members of our Lodge were so generous with their time and money to help this great cause, especially because the economy has been tough and money for many people has been ‘tight,’” said Roy Chamberlin, Exalted Ruler of the Culver City Elks.

“Our members dug even deeper into their pockets this year and found the money to help our disabled kids,” he said, adding that the Emblem Club—which helps supports many of the local Elks’ events—added another $100 to the fund-raising drive.

Without such contributions, Chamberlin said, many disabled children would not get the medical-care that they so desperately need.

Each year, CHEA picks a “theme child” to help show the difference that its members can make in a community. This year he is Andrew Bowring, a two-year-old from the rural Northern California town of Red Bluff.

Andrew’s medical problems began while he was still in the womb. His mother, Erin, went into premature labor after just 20 weeks and doctors had little hope that the baby could be saved.

Remarkably, he survived. But motor-skills problems and other health issues lingered after his birth and, at eight months old, the young boy was referred to the Elks’ charitable program.

The Elks pay for such massive medical services with the small change that’s dropped into the tiny, plastic “Purple Pigs” that are found at each of the 176 Lodges in California and Hawaii, as well as at several Culver City businesses.

Young Andrew slowly began responding to his Elks-funded therapy program. Earlier this year, he was able to toss aside his walker and take steps on his own.

The boy, now approaching his third birthday, still must wear leg braces to help keep his feet in proper walking position. But one day soon, doctors hope, he’ll be able to ditch the braces too.

“Andrew is a remarkable, courageous young boy,” said Chamberlin, who met the youngster at last week’s annual California-Hawaii Elks Convention in Orange County.

Members of the Culver City Elks Lodge raise money for a number of other charities and provide an array of important community services throughout the year. Such help includes ongoing support for local military veterans, a college-scholarship program for the area’s high school students, a project that donates more than 1,000 dictionaries each year to local schools, and drug-prevention efforts aimed at teenagers.

The Culver Lodge was incorporated in 1954 and is part of a network that has more than 870,000 members across the United States. Information about joining can be obtained by dropping by its facility at 11160 Washington Place or by calling its on-site office, (310) 839-8891.