Sometimes, dreaming big can feel like achieving the impossible, but, with help from the Elks and your local community, big dreams can be made reality. Kingman, Ariz., Lodge No. 468 partnered with their local American Legion chapter to convert their old Golden Valley Chamber of Commerce building into a veterans’ thrift store. With Freedom Grant funds, members were able to furnish the thrift store with items like clothing racks, shelves, hangers and office supplies.
At right, members from Kingman, Ariz., Lodge No. 468 posing in front of the Veterans Camp Hope Thrift Store sign.
Thanks to these efforts, veterans in the community will have the ability to save money on clothing and home goods. If a veteran comes into the thrift store and can’t afford an item, they are given the opportunity to work at the thrift store to pay for the cost of the items they’d like to purchase. Project Manager Nani Chrimes shares that the grant project “provided a relationship with the community and veterans to provide household items for veterans moving into permanent housing. Community donated usable items and veterans could shop in the thrift store to save money.”
At left, members from Kingman, Ariz., Lodge No. 468 inside the newly built veterans’ thrift store.
Even with the success in opening this new thrift store, Kingman Elks aren’t finished with building infrastructure to serve veterans in their community. The Lodge’s next steps are to build a greenhouse adjacent to the thrift store so local veterans will be able to grow their own food. With community support, Freedom Grants, and a dream, Elks can achieve anything when it comes to uplifting veterans throughout their community.
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