A pair of local organizations who deal with people having to leave home for whatever got a significant boost from the Iola Elks Lodge.
The Elks purchased $2,000 worth of bathroom, bedding and kitchen supplies to split between Hope Unlimited and Faith House.
The idea was to provide everything a person would need if they needed to get into a new home or were leaving an unstable environment, explained Jon Wells, an Elks member.
“We realized that if you left everything behind, or didn’t have anything to start with, there’s a lot of money in the bathroom that makes it very difficult to start over,” Wells said in a press release. “If you just look around the bathroom it’s usually one of the most cluttered spaces and it’s cluttered with costly necessities, even more costly if you have kids, and especially teenagers.”
The funds came from a “Gratitude Grant” made available from the Elks National Foundation, which can be used to benefit agencies dealing with employment, homelessness and housing, military families, health and educational support.
Hope Unlimited in a non-profit organization based in Iola that serves victims of domestic or sexual abuse.
Faith House is a Chanute-based homeless shelter that serves clients in Neosho and Allen counties, including Iola.
The Iola Elks members wound up filling 10 shopping carts with everything from toothpaste and toothbrushes to towels, bath mats, razors and cleaning supplies, Wells said.
