Several years ago the Forks Elks Lodge #2524 learned of the Dictionary Project and decided to purchase dictionaries for area third-graders. Teachers and students look forward to this event every year.

Dictionaries were purchased with part of a $2,000 Gratitude Grant the Forks Elks received from the Elks National Foundation for meeting its per-member goal.

On Feb. 21-22 the Elks donated 80 dictionaries to the Forks Elementary School third-grade classes and 30 dictionaries to the Neah Bay Elementary School third-grade classes.

The teachers in each class room also received new dictionaries and they were very thankful to the Elks Lodge for the donations.

Elks member Chuck Jennings said, “This is one of the best projects to serve the needs of our children. The children really enjoyed receiving their own dictionaries.”

The Dictionary Project, headquartered in Charleston, S.C., was founded by Mary French in 1995. The Elks and other nonprofit organizations across the nation participate in the distribution of more than 2 million dictionaries a year. The Elks also recently delivered drug awareness coloring books to all of the schools to help inform students about the dangers of using drugs.