A spark of energy shines from Apache Junction, Ariz., Lodge No. 2349, thanks to Patricia Gille, the Lodge’s new ENF Chair. She joined the Lodge last year and accepted the ENF Chair responsibilities this past summer.
Gille immediately turned to the ENF resources online and looks to long-time members for fundraising ideas. From her new, energized efforts, Apache Junction exceeded the per-capita goal sooner than last year with a remarkable 28 percent of Lodge members donating—and a quarter of those are new donors! Gille also shows her support in other areas around her Lodge community to let members know she is there for them because of how much their time means to her, the Lodge and the ENF.
“My advice is to get to know everything you can about what you’re doing,” Gille shares for ENF Chairs. “Success depends upon you choosing the right tools and then everything else will fall into place.”
For Gille, the right tools include personally engaging every member to get them all involved, giving donors credit and spreading information about the ENF. She places articles in the Lodge newsletter and added an ENF spot on the Lodge’s website featuring local and national ENF news. But, the most important resource for Gille is her positive attitude.
“If you can start each and every day with a smile, the whole world wonders what you've been up to!,” Gille says. “Having a super outlook is contagious.”
The ENF is more about good deeds than about the money for Gille, as she reminds herself and others often. In fact, she created a constant reminder for herself. When Gille started as ENF Chair, she took an empty, clear, tall jar and placed it on her kitchen counter. With each act of kindness by another person toward her or toward ENF, she places a marble in that jar. Each marble does not mean dollars, but it keeps Gille visually focused on the good of everyone in her Lodge.
“It reminds me that I am surrounded by truly wonderful, gracious and giving people at our Lodge,” she says of her marble jar. “There are a lot of marbles in that jar and it brings a smile to my face every day!”