by Amy Modesti
It was spaghetti for dinner Monday evening at Brunswick Elks Lodge. Elks Club chef and lecturing knight, Kathy Betzinger, lovingly made 64 spaghetti dinners to benefit Christopher’s House, the South Troy women veterans’ home run by Christine Rem, with support from Betzinger’s sister, Jane Cordts.
The Eastwick Press spoke with ex-exalted ruler and Elks Club member, Dale Loucks, about the spaghetti dinner and their mission to assist Christopher’s House with their needs during the evening.
“Kathy Betzinger said there is a homeless women vets center, and they need a shed. She was going to ask for the funds from here (Brunswick Elks Lodge) and I said why don’t we try and do something with the National Foundation. So, I called, and they said yeah, we could do this,” said Loucks.
With the shed costing $5,000, Loucks contacted a man in Chicago who told him to use the Gratitude Grant and the Peeking Grant (a total of $6,500) for the shed and another charity of choice. Loucks gave $1,500 to Brittonkill Central School District for their Backpack program and the $5,000 for Christopher’s House shed. Loucks placed the application for the grants in May and Christopher’s House received the shed mid-summer.
What was the purpose of the dinner?
“Well, the fundraiser here is to help defray some of the expenses—the everyday expenses. There are probably a lot of expenses, and so this spaghetti dinner is to help pay for some of the expenses that have concurred,” added Loucks. Loucks added that in the future, Christopher’s House wants to add parking for their tenants.
“Your organization gets better when you do things for the community,” said Loucks.
With the support of Loucks, Betzinger, Elks Lodge staff, and event supporters, $861 was raised for Christopher’s House.
For more information about Christopher’s House, head to http://www.cdwv.org.
