The Jr. Elks are a youth organization that ranges from ages 8 to 18. We are united in an effort to make our community, nation, and world a better place. The Jr. Elks of Rochester have been in existance since 2003 and was started by 6 kids united with a common purpose. We particapate in a large range of events. We are first and foremost a branch of our lodge and participate in many events with them. These events inculde the Pumpkin Patch, Streak on the Creek, Hoopshoot, Elkfest, Flag Day Ceremony, and many other events through our Elks lodge.
We also do many other seperate events and help seperate organizations from our lodge. Our largest event of the year is our annual Thanksgiving dinner. This past year we raised over $800 and 50% went to the Hudson-Webber Cancer Research Center and the ONE campaign. We also give money yearly to the MDA, PAWS With a Cause, and other organizations. We make bags with stuffed animals, coloring books, and other craft materials to give to the Children's Hospital of Michigan. We also make bears at Build-A-Bear that are donated to Children's Hospital of Michigan's Oncology/Hemotology Clinic. We have also adopted a polar bear, red panda, and arctic fox the Detroit Zoo. We have peanut butter and jelly drives and clothing drives for Lighthouse of Oakland County, an organization that helps broken families, mainly single mothers and children, get back on their feet. We also hold can drives within local neighborhoods, raising canned goods for our local Neighborhood House.
We have adopted a soldier currently overseas, fighting for our freedom. The Jr. Elks and our country owe our lives to these brave men and women fighting everyday. We also recognize our veterans by sending joke cards to veterans at a local veteran's hospital. We have a stuffed bear, named "Hero", that will soon be taking up residence at the Veteran's Hospital in Detroit and spending time with the veterans, listening to their stories and sharing them with us. As an organization, we try to work with programs that help our direct community, others that help our nation, and those that help our world. In the simplest form, we are a group of young people who want nothing more than to see the world a bit better today than it was the day before.