Rochester, NH Lodge News
Sleep in Heavenly Peace receives $1500 Donation from Rochester, NH Elks #1393
On Saturday,
February 17th, 2024, the Rochester Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly
Peace (SHP) was the recipient of a $1500 dollar Elks Gratitude Grant provided
by the Elks National Foundation, via the Rochester, NH Elks Lodge #1393.
The
presentation was conducted at the Elks Lodge located at 295 Columbus Avenue,
Rochester, NH. On hand to receive the donation was Sleep in Heavenly Peace
representative Henry Martino. The Elks Lodge was represented by Exalted Ruler
Peter Ducharme and Lodge Secretary, Elks National Foundation Chair and Past
Exalted Ruler Norman Gervais. Elks Gratitude Grants are designed to help
community-based projects that are providing assistance to individuals and
families in need.
Sleep in
Heavenly Peace is a non-profit organization and has over 300 Chapters in the
United States. The mission of the organization is to build and provide free
beds to children who don’t have their own bed. Nationwide, SHP has provided
over 100,000 beds to children. The Rochester Chapter was founded in 2021 by Jim
and Marlene Graves, both residents of Rochester. In 2022, they delivered 126
beds to children within a 15 mile radius of the Lilac City.
Beds are
assembled by groups of volunteers. The cost to build each bed is approximately
$250 dollars and this organization relies totally on donations and grants to
cover the cost of materials.
If you or
your group are interested in volunteering for this project or want more
information about the program, please visit https://shpbeds.org/chapter/nh-rochester
The
Rochester Elks has over 1,000 members and is involved in various initiatives
including Scholarships, Americanism and Patriotic programs, Veterans Activities,
Youth Activities, Drug Awareness programs for our youth and community based
projects in the Rochester Area. To find out more about them please visit: www.elks.org
Picture
Caption, l to r : Peter Ducharme, Exalted Ruler, Rochester Elks; Henry Martino,
(SHP) Representative and Norman Gervais, PER, Lodge Secretary and Elks National
Foundation Chairman.