August 28, 2023 – To kick off the start of the new school year, Clovis Elks lodge #2599 gave away backpacks filled with school supplies to students at Tarpey Elementary.
With the support of the Clovis Unified School District, the Clovis Elk Lodge planned to donate about 200 backpacks—but they have actually doubled that number.
The Elks have bought over 400 backpacks to donate to local elementary students, and they plan to organize more backpack donations to other CUSD elementary schools.
Since 1979, the Elks Lodge has donated food around Thanksgiving time. In recent years, they have done a food donation around Easter.
Now, the backpack donation for elementary students is a brand new way that the Clovis Elks are giving back to the community.
This donation was in response to the fact that both Fresno & Central Unified School District have programs to give backpacks to their students, but Clovis Unified School District does not yet have a similar program.
Each new backpack had a school supply set that included pens, pencils, notebooks, erasers, rulers, and more. The backpacks also included a small gift certificate that was kindly donated by Foster Freeze.
Thank you to Elks Lodge #2599 Chairman Steve Majors, Tarpey Principal Tachua Vua, and Assistant Director of Student Services, Russ Harding for letting us be there to see the kids get their new backpacks.