Clovis Elks Lodge, CUSD Partner Up to Help Families in Need for Thanksgiving

Clovis Elks with the help of CUSD, sponsors and volunteers put together 150 Thanksgiving baskets every year for families in need. (Courtesy of Elks Lodge)

The Thanksgiving feast is what everyone is looking forward to; the cranberry sauce, mom’s green bean casserole and that juicy turkey.

Elks Lodge in Clovis partners up with Clovis Unified School District to put together Thanksgiving baskets so that families in need can have the same holiday experience.

The Elks Lodge has been carrying out this tradition for more than 40 years, serving the community.

CUSD takes care of the list of recipients of the basket while the Elks Lodge puts it together.

These baskets are possible because of many generous businesses, like Pitman Family Farmer, who supplies free-range frozen chickens. Another business partner, 1st Quality Produce, is in charge of all the greens like carrots, celery, and potatoes.

More goes into it than just a Thanksgiving dinner; the baskets include not only a box of stuffing and cranberry sauce but also easy to make foods for kids like mac and cheese and a cup of noodles.

About 150 baskets get distributed the day before Thanksgiving. Families come through, and the volunteers do the handoff with an easy but safe procedure.

“When you see families come in with tears in their eyes. It kind of galvanizes you, it’s like I need to do this every year, it can’t be a passing thing, it has to be a passion,” says Steve Majors, Chairman of The Thanksgiving Basket Program.

Majors said he starts finding sponsors in mid-August at the earliest; he said others describe him as being too intense about his work. Still, it has become a passion of his.

“When I do something, I own it; I’ve taken ownership of this,” says Majors.

The Elks Lodge is volunteer-based. Majors describes the Tuesday before Thanksgiving when volunteers are prepping the baskets, as a night of fun.

“It’s a real joy during the holiday season, it’s all about giving back, and that’s what Elks are about. We are about giving back,” says Majors.

Tori Lavon is a Multimedia Journalist from Reedley, California. She received her Bachelor's in Mass Communications and Journalism with an emphasis in Broadcasting from California State University, Fresno. Currently, she is a radio intern at One Putt Broadcasting. On occasion, Tori has the opportunity to be on-air with talent. She is getting her start in media. She has a passion for reporting, photography, and videography. Tori also has a love for art; she loves to draw, paint, and does pottery on the side. One day she hopes she can be on-air talent at a radio station as well.