Maine Elks
Association
Public Relations Committee
Newsbriefs -08/23/07
Maine
Elks Association Newsbriefs
Youthfest
Reminder
Those planning
to volunteer at the Maine Elks Association Youthfest program this Saturday are
reminded to park on the hill adjacent to the Lodge. The committee is trying to
make space in the parking lot for families who will be attending the event. In
addition, the weather is expected to be warm this weekend. Don’t forget to bring
sunscreen! We have only a limited number of sun shelters, so if you have one
available, you are requested to bring it along. Volunteers are requested to
arrive by 10 AM at the latest. Volunteer registration will open at 9 AM, and the
event will begin at 11 AM. If you should have any questions, contact Wayne
Cotterly at meapr@fairpoint.net or (207)
998-2282.
ENF's Emergency Educational Grant Program Encourages Elks' Families
CHICAGO,
III.-Applications are now available for the 2007-08 Elks National Foundation
Emergency Educational Grant program. The program provides financial assistance
to children of deceased or totally disabled Elks, who wish to obtain or further
their college education.
Applicants must
demonstrate financial need to qualify for a grant. In addition, the applicant
must be unmarried, under the age of 23 at the time of applying, and be attending
a U.S. college or university as a full-time undergraduate
student.
New
applications should be filed between July 1 and December 31. Renewal
applications must be filed between July 1 and October 31. Incomplete or late
applications will not be considered. The grant is for educational assistance
only and not intended to cover the entire cost of a college
education.
Two recipients
of the Emergency Educational Grant, brothers Zeke and Luke Hughes, struggled to
finance their education after their father passed away from cancer. "If not for
the generosity displayed by the Elks through my own tenure as a college student,
I may not have been able to finish my journey, especially not as successfully as
I have," says Zeke, a recent graduate of Boston College. Luke still has three
more years of college ahead of him, and looks to the Emergency Educational Grant
Program for help.
The Elks
National Foundation recognizes the distress families experience when a parent
dies or becomes totally disabled, and is therefore committed to further reducing
the number of families who have major concerns about funding college. For
2007-08, the Elks National Foundation reserved $350,000 for the EEG program.
Grants are for one year and are renewable up to three times. Grant amounts can
range up to $4,000.
For more
information, or an application, contact the ENF scholarship office at
scholarship@elks.org or 773/755-4732. Visit http://elks.org/enf/scholars/eefgrants.cfm
to learn more about the program.
Elks to Join Vietnam Vets in Program to Raise Funds for Support of Troops
A new partnership
between the Elks and the charitable affiliate of the Vietnam Veterans of America
will raise funds to assist soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well
as all veterans of the nation's wars.
The affiliate, the Vietnam Veterans
Assistance Fund, is renaming its Coin Can Donation Program, "The Michael Manning
National Veterans Program," as a tribute to the long-time director of the Elks
National Veterans Service Department who died July 22. Mike had worked with the
organization in setting up the program, which will feature coin cans in every
Elks lodge and in other locations.
Full details will be announced when
the national roll-out of the program begins this fall. Money raised in this
effort will aid veterans as they deal with health issues, homeless services, and
transitioning programs.
Calling Mike "truly a great leader in the
veterans' community," John Rowan, national president of the Vietnam Veterans of
America, said: "It was with Michael's great enthusiasm for veterans that this
program will exist as a partnership between the Elks and the
VVA."
Words of Inspiration
Simply click on the
name of the Emergency Educational Grant recipient, Zeke Hughes, or the 2007
top-male Most Valuable Student winner, Cort VanOstran, to watch the streaming
video of their inspirational speeches at the Elks 2007 Grand Lodge Convention.
Zeke
Hughes
Cort
VanOstran
IRS Says Small
Tax-Exempt Groups May Be Required to File Annual
Notice
From
the GL Government Relations Newsletter
Small tax-exempt organizations
that previously were not required to file returns may have to file annual
electronic notices with the Internal Revenue Service. Non-profit groups, with
gross receipts of $25,000 or less, do not have to file Form 990 or Form 990 E-Z,
as required for larger tax-exempt groups. But starting next year, these smaller
entities must send in a new Form 990-N. Failure to file for three consecutive
years will result in loss of tax-exempt status.
The IRS calls the new form an
e-Postcard because it is short, easy and electronic. Small organizations must
provide a legal name and mailing address and any other names used, along with a
Web address if one exists, the name and address of a principal officer and a
statement confirming that the organization’s annual gross receipts are normally
$25,000 or less.
The new filing is required under terms of the Pension
Protection Act, enacted by Congress last year.
House Passes
Bill Protecting Right of Homeowners to Fly the Flag
The House has passed H.R. 42, a bill guaranteeing the right of homeowners to display the American flag on their residential property. Approved unanimously, the legislation came in response to reports that some homeowner and condominium associations were preventing residents from flying the flag at their homes. The bill states that associations or residential management companies may not adopt or enforce any policy or enter into agreements that restrict or prevent any resident from displaying the U.S. flag. The bill is now pending in the Senate.
If you have news or information of interest to the members of the Maine Elks Association, please send your articles to Public Relations Director Wayne Cotterly at meapr@fairpoint.net for inclusion in the MEA Calendar, Newsbriefs, and/or Website. Also, if you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please send an e-mail to Public Relations Director Wayne Cotterly at meapr@fairpoint.net. In addition, if you know of someone who would like to be added to this list, please have them forward their e-mail address to the same address. All information provided has been read and approved by the MEA State President